DUTSIDE  THE  LAX 


JAMES    BARNE.S 


OUTSIDE  THE   LAW 


The  man  with  the  eager  eyes. 


OUTSIDE  THE   LAW 

BY  JAMES  BARNES 


NEW  YORK 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

1906 


COPYRIGHT,  1905,  BY 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Publithed  November,  1905 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — AT  THE  CORNER  TABLE    ....          i 
II. — THE  MAN  WITH  THE  EAGER  EYES  .        .        12 

III. — Two   MEETINGS 45 

IV. — AN  ECHO  OF  STRAUSS       ....        62 
V. — THE  VOICE  FROM  THE  PAST     .        .        .        85 

VI. — UP-TOWN 103 

VII. — DOWN-TOWN in 

VIII. — A  DOUBTING  THOMAS        .        .        .        .121 

IX. — AT  THE  BANK 140 

X.— A  SEARCH  WITH  A  PURPOSE      .        .  175 

XI. — THE  INTERVIEW 181 

XII. — A  TROUBLESOME  DOUBLE  .        .        .  199 

XIII. — THE  SHADES  OF  KRISHNA  .        .        .        .208 

XIV. — THE   MYSTERIOUS  PATIENT        .        .        .216 

XV. — NEW  DEPARTURES 223 


2134501 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

XVI. — A  CONFERENCE 229 

XVII. — A  PLUNGE  INTO  THE  MYSTERY  .  .  234 

XVIII. — THE   END  OF  THE  BARGAIN    .  .  .  243 

XIX. — A  CHASE  AND  A  CAPTURE     .  .  .  256 

XX. — THE  VALUE  OF  INCENTIVE     .  .  .  269 

XXI. — THE  LAST  WHO  LAUGHED     .  .  .  274 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 


The  man  with  the  eager  eyes       .        .  Frontispiece 

The  Frenchman  was  gazing  abstractedly  over  the 

top  of  his  paper 1 6 

"It  was  almost  a  replica  of  my  own  studio"  .        34 
"Sit  up  and  beg,   Red!" 52 

"  Do  you  think  you    could  get    on   without   me, 

father?" no 

"  Look  out !    There  may  be  a  lot  of  snow  come 

down  !" 132 

"Fools  and  idiots!"   Lorrimer  repeated       .        .      162 
"The  figure  that  was  me  bent  over"         .        .      212 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 


CHAPTER    I 

AT   THE    CORNER  TABLE 

[HE  big  cafe  was  crowded.  Waiters 
shuttled  and  buffeted  to  and  fro 
through  the  narrow  channels;  the 
smoke-laden  air  hummed  with  the  babble  of 
conversation  that  almost  drowned  the  orches- 
tra in  the  little  gallery.  The  groups  at  the 
tables,  reflected  in  the  mirrored  walls,  laughed 
and  talked,  and,  for  the  most  part,  ate  and 
drank  with  a  seemingly  contagious  haste. 

There  were  knots  of  aliens,  various  as  to 
tongues  and  frequent  as  to  gestures;  there 
were  college  boys  on  vacation,  clothing- 
house  gentlemen  from  lower  Broadway, 
clerks,  brokers  and  bankers,  journalists  and 
tradesmen.  There  were  men  in  evening 
i 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

dress,  men  in  frock  coats,  men  in  tweeds, 
sporting  individuals  in  shouting  neckties,  a 
pugilist-actor  with  diamond  studs,  a  visiting 
bandmaster  in  full  uniform,  and  a  Bronx- 
ville  scorcher  in  knickerbockers.  It  was 
pleasure-seeking,  much-mingled  Gotham  at 
its  feeding  hour. 

From  the  dining-room  upstairs  and  the 
huge  restaurant  that  reached  the  avenue, 
crowds  were  coming  and  going.  The  street 
at  the  side  entrance  was  filled  with  a  pro- 
cession of  carriages  and  motor  cars. 

Seated  at  a  corner  table,  on  one  of  the 
leather  divans,  was  a  man  alone.  The  table 
was  set  for  two;  the  dinner,  long  ordered, 
had  not  yet  been  served.  The  man,  unheed- 
ing the  attention  of  the  near-by  diners,  sat 
there  bolt  upright  with  a  smug,  expression- 
less face  and  folded  arms.  Occasionally  the 
head  waiter  approached  and  spoke  to  him; 
frequently  giving  a  look  over  his  shoulder  in 
the  direction  of  the  clock. 

In  the  west  corridor,  lounging  at  the  cigar 
stand,  was  a  tall,  black-bearded  foreigner 
of  distinguished  appearance.  His  long  hair, 
2 


AT    THE    CORNER     TABLE 

waving  under  the  brim  of  his  silk  hat,  al- 
most covered  the  tops  of  his  ears.  His 
bushy  eyebrows — a  blue,  shaven  spot  above 
the  bridge  of  his  aquiline  nose — shaded  a 
pair  of  keen,  dark  eyes.  A  broad  black  rib- 
bon trailed  to  a  corner  of  his  waistcoat. 

Two  or  three  times  the  stranger  had 
stepped  to  the  doorway,  regarding  the  scene 
before  him  attentively,  and  his  glance  had 
strayed  to  the  figure  of  the  man  at  the  cor- 
ner table.  The  head  waiter,  to  whom  the 
tall  stranger  had  spoken  in  French,  treated 
him  with  marked  deference. 

"  They  will  soon  be  leaving,  monsieur, 
and  you  shall  have  the  first  table  to  your- 
self," said  he.  "  I  am  sorry  that  I  could  not 
save  you  the  one  you  wished,  but,  as  you  see, 
it  is  taken.  He  is  expecting  a  gentleman  at 
eight.  It  is  late  now  twelve  minutes — the 
dinner  is  ordered.  Ah !  "  he  added,  turning, 
"  the  exodus  has  begun !  The  motto  of 
these  Americans  is  '  Eat  and  run,'  monsieur. 
There  will  be  plenty  of  tables." 

It  was  the  time  that  the  theaters  were 
opening.  Already  the  crowd  was  moving, 
3 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

some  of  the  patrons  taking  their  last  sips  of 
coffee  as  they  rose  to  their  feet. 

The  head  waiter  beckoned  to  the  stranger 
to  follow,  and  with  a  sweeping  gesticulation 
ushered  him  to  a  seat,  three  or  four  tables 
removed  from  where  the  mysterious  indi- 
vidual sat  guard  over  the  empty  plates  and 
untouched  glasses.  Just  at  this  moment  an- 
other man  entered  through  the  western  cor- 
ridor. Glancing  swiftly  around  the  room, 
he  perceived  the  lonely  one,  and  hastily  ap- 
proached him.  The  latter  rose  deferentially, 
and  before  a  waiter  had  stepped  to  his  assist- 
ance he  had  removed  the  newcomer's  coat, 
taken  his  hat  in  silence,  and,  without  a  word, 
bowed  and  disappeared. 

The  new  occupant  of  the  corner  seat  took 
out  his  watch,  compared  it  with  the  clock, 
and  then  leaned  forward  on  his  elbows,  his 
long  white  fingers  lacing  and  interlacing 
nervously. 

He    could   not    keep    those    fingers    still! 

When    unclasped    he    pulled    at    his    short 

brown  mustache,  in  which  were  showing  a 

few  gray  streaks,  arranged  and  rearranged 

4 


AT    THE    CORNER    TABLE 

the  knives  and  forks,  stroked  his  scanty  hair 
back  from  his  broad,  well-shaped  brow,  and 
frowned  impatiently.  His  face  was  one  that 
would  have  attracted  attention  anywhere;  it 
was  refined,  purely  intellectual,  and  nervously 
alert.  He  might  have  been  close  to  forty, 
but  doubtless  his  pallor  and  nervousness  had 
aged  him  for  the  moment — the  lines  and 
furrows  were  not  the  marks  of  years.  His 
upright  carriage,  well-set  shoulders,  and  the 
clearness  of  his  eye  suggested,  however,  no 
trace  of  dissipation. 

Two  or  three  times  he  had  endeavored 
to  compose  himself,  and,  as  if  in  search  of 
distraction,  had  gazed  curiously  about  him. 
Once,  with  half  a  start,  he  had  met  the 
glance  of  the  black-bearded  stranger  in  the 
opposite  corner. 

All  at  once  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  a  flush 
coming  to  his  cheeks  as  he  advanced  to  meet 
a  short,  thick-set  man  who  greeted  him  with 
a  smile  and  a  cordially  extended  hand. 

"Ah,  Lorrimer!"  cried  the  belated  one, 
as  he  removed  a  muffler  from  under  his  coat. 
"  Here  at  last,  and  hungry  as  a  wolf !  Sorry 
5 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

to  have  kept  you  waiting.  You  know  I  am 
generally  punctual,  but  I  was  unavoidably 
delayed." 

"  Never  mind,  never  mind;  no  apologies," 
was  the  return.  "  The  dinner  is  ordered,  and 
we  can  begin  without  preamble." 

"  I  see,  nevertheless,  you  have  the  usual 
introduction,"  smiled  the  short  man  as  the 
waiter  placed  two  cocktails  on  the  table. 
"  I  thought  you  abstained  from  appetizers." 
He  looked  curiously  at  the  other's  face  as  he 
spoke,  and  the  reply  came  quickly : 

"  Well,  to-night,  I  dare  say,  I  break  my 
rule.  I  suppose  you  think  it's  strange  that  I 
should  have  chosen  this  place.1  It  was  just 
a  freak — an  impulse,  as  it  were — there  may 
be  reasons." 

"What  is  the  matter  with  the  club?" 
asked  the  short  man  as  he  unfolded  his  nap- 
kin, "  and  why  aren't  you  in  mid- Atlantic? 
Until  I  received  your  telegram  I  supposed 
that  you  would  be  halfway  over." 

"  I  can't  plunge  into  my  explanations  just 
now,"  was  the  reply.  "  They  will  come  in 
good  time,  and  may  account  for  my  somewhat 
6 


AT    THE    CORNER     TABLE 

— er — erratic  behavior — to  tell  the  truth,  I 
could  not  have  gone  to  the  club  to-night — 
there  are  so  many  friendly  interruptions — so 
many  well-intentioned  questions  awaiting  me. 
All  my  baggage  went  on  the  steamer,  but 
here  I  am,  Fowler,  and  God  knows  when  I 
will  get  away.  My  house  is  closed,  too,  and 
the  servants  gone,  otherwise  we  could  have 
dined  there.  We'll  go  up  later  and — er — 
you  will  understand  how  sufficient  are  the 
reasons  that — er — have  detained  me." 

"Well,  well!"  exclaimed  the  short  one 
softly.  "  What's  the  trouble?  By  the  way, 
you  are  not  looking  very  fit !  " 

For  the  first  time  the  speaker's  face  lost 
its  look  of  smiling  and  rather  forced  genial- 
ity and  concentrated  into  one  of  keen  atten- 
tion. 

"  Fowler,"  whispered  the  pale  man,  lean- 
ing forward,  "  I  haven't  slept  hardly  a  wink 
for  nearly  sixty  hours!  I  have  been  count- 
ing the  minutes,  the  seconds,  until  you  should 
arrive." 

"  Well,  I  came  as  fast  as  I  could,"  replied 
the  other,  "  and  if  I  had  not  been  fortunate 
7 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

in  my  connections,  I  could  not  have  got  in 
until  to-morrow  morning.  I  must  confess 
your  first  wire  startled  me,  Lorrimer;  but 
now  I  am  at  your  service,  old  man.  What's 
up?  What  is  it?" 

The  pale  one  extended  his  hand  and 
grasped  his  friend's  across  the  table.  "  I'm 
glad  you  came,"  he  said;  "  another  night 
would  have  finished  me !  " 

"  You  need  a  doctor,  not  a  lawyer.  Why 
haven't  you  gone  to  see  Higgins?  " 

"  I  haven't  seen  anybody;  I  have  been 
waiting  for  you.  You've  got  to  be  doctor 
and  lawyer  both.  That's  one  reason  I  came 
here  to-night.  I  didn't  think  I'd  meet  any- 
one, and  I " 

"  You  wanted  distraction,"  put  in  the 
other. 

"Exactly!" 

"Well,  don't  despise  this  soup;  speaking 
in  my  new  role  as  a  physician,  I  prescribe  it. 
I  insist  you  take  my  first  advice." 

"  I  have  been  eating  at  a  dairy  kitchen  on 
Third  Avenue  for  the  last  two  days,  Fowler. 
Everybody  thinks  I've  sailed." 
8 


AT    THE    CORNER    TABLE 

"  Well,  there's  another  steamer  to-morrow 
morning;  why  don't  you  take  that?  As  I've 
curtailed  my  little  vacation,  I'll  run  over  with 
you.  There  are  plenty  of  passages  to  be  had 
at  this  time  of  the  year;  we  can  pack  up 
things  to-night.  There  is  no  reason  why  I 
shouldn't  go." 

The  friendliness  of  the  offer  had  its  effect. 
His  friend's  lips  quivered. 

"  No,  no,"  he  said,  "  neither  you  nor  I 
must  leave.  There's  a  lot  ahead  of  us. 
Without  beating  about  the  bush — I  am  in 
great  and  serious  trouble." 

"  Well,  out  with  it  then.  It  may  lose  its 
seriousness  as  we  talk  it  over." 

"  Not  here,  not  here,"  said  the  pale  man, 
glancing  over  his  shoulder  and  then  to  left 
and  right.  "  We'll  adjourn  to  the  house." 

With  an  effort  he  sought  to  change  the 
subject. 

"  How's  the  shooting? —  Oh,  I  forgot — 
you'd  hardly  time  to  begin — I'm  so  sorry !  " 

"  I  had  just  got  my  gun  out  of  its  case 
when  your  peremptory  summons  came.     At 
first  I  thought  of  playing  possum  on  you." 
2  9 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

"  Lord!  I'm  glad  you  didn't.  As  I  told 
you,  you're  the  only  man  I  could  rely  on." 

"  Now,  look  here,"  said  the  lawyer,  lean- 
ing forward,  "  we'd  better  begin  at  once. 
Any  more  of  this  will  not  only  destroy  my 
appetite  but  give  me  the  jumps.  You  talk 
and  I'll  eat  and  listen,  and  then  I'll  talk 
and  you  do  the  same  thing.  Come,  let's  be 
plain,  sane  men  with  appetites.  What  is  it 
all  about?  Here  now,  a  glass  of  champagne 
first!  Let's  look  at  the  situation  after- 
wards." 

They  drained  their  glasses. 

"  Somebody  might  hear  us,"  said  Lor- 
rimer  in  a  half  whisper. 

"  Bosh  and  nonsense,"  his  friend  retorted. 
"  In  your  present  state  of  mind,  if  I  went  up 
to  the  house,  you'd  probably  drag  me  off  to 
the  obelisk  in  the  Park  for  fear  of  eaves- 
droppers. Look;  there's  nobody  but  that 
Frenchman  over  there  and  those  two  college 
boys,  who  can  hardly  hear  themselves  think 
— let  alone  anything  we  might  say.  Then 
there's  this  drummer  individual  with  the  lady 
in  the  red  hat — who're  you  afraid  of?  By 
10 


AT    THE    CORNER     TABLE 

the  time  we  finish  our  duck,  you'll  be  over 
the  worst  of  it  and  be  smiling  at  fate  and  ill 
fortune !  I  will  punctuate  what  you  have  to 
say  by  advice  that  you  must  promise  to  take 
immediately.  Is  it  a  bargain?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Lorrimer,  with  a  sigh  of  evi- 
dent relief,  "  your  advice  is  what  I  want,  but 
it  will  be  a  long  story." 

"  My  turn  to  eat  and  listen  then,"  said  the 
lawyer;  "  so  let's  begin  at  the  beginning." 


II 


CHAPTER    II 

THE   MAN  WITH   THE    EAGER   EYES 

|OU  know  how  faithfully  I  have  fol- 
lowed my  hobby  that  I  began 
some  ten  years  ago,"  said  Mr. 
Lorrimer  in  a  voice  husky  with  earnestness, 
"  and  that  if  the  necessity  had  confronted  me, 
it  would  have  been  my  profession  and  not  a 
hobby  at  all.  I  must  have  something  to  do 
that  interests  me.  Don't  you  remember  how 
long  I  labored  on  my  book  on  the  Puranas?  " 

The  lawyer  looked  mystified. 

"  Perhaps  I  do,"  he  said  doubtfully. 
"What  were  they?" 

"  Never  mind,"  replied  Lorrimer,  a  little 
nettled,  "  you  are  familiar  with  my  present 
work  and  possess  a  few  examples  of  it,  and 
you  know  how  my  secret  process  has  enabled 
me  to  reproduce  exactly  the  works  of  the  old 
engravers  and  the  famous  mezzotints  of  the 

12 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

last  three  centuries.  In  fact,  you  remember 
my  friendly  wager  with  John  Cornwalter 
that  he  could  not  tell  my  imitation  Boydell 
from  the  original." 

"  I  was  at  the  dinner,"  said  Fowler. 

"  So  you  were.  Well,  you  know  that  none 
of  them,  of  course,  was  ever  placed  upon  the 
market,  and  that  all  of  those  that  I  have 
presented — and  I  give  you  my  word  that  I 
never  struck  off  more  than  ten  from  each 
plate  before  destroying  it — were  signed  and 
stamped  '  facsimile  '  with  the  date  over  my 
own  signature." 

"  They  are  more  valuable  than  the  old 
prints  themselves,  now,  aren't  they?  " 

"  I  dare  say,  but  I  never  tried  to  sell  any. 
They  represent  a  deal  of  patience  and  labor 
and  embody  my  secret  method  of  employing 
photographic  etching  with  dry  point  and 
stipple.  They  are  accurately  and  micro- 
scopically correct.  You  also  know  that  I 
have  had  for  years  an  assistant  in  old  Straub, 
the  German  engraver,  and  that  I  paid  him 
what  you  chose  to  inform  me  once  was  a 
ridiculously  high  figure  for  his  services." 
13 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  By  the  way,  how  is  the  old  chap?  "  put 
in  Fowler  parenthetically. 

"He's  dead;  that's  just  the  trouble!  If 
he'd  only  died  before  I'd  ever  met  him,  I 
wouldn't  be  in  the  position  I  may  be  in  to- 
day." 

The  speaker's  voice  trembled;  he  drew  a 
long  breath. 

"  Go  on,"  said  the  lawyer. 

"  Never,  as  long  as  you  live,  Fowler,  will 
you  listen  to  such  a  story  of  base  ingratitude 
and  treachery,"  resumed  Lorrimer.  "  No 
man  that  ever  died  unhung  deserved  hang- 
ing more  than  he  did;  and  to  think  that  I 
went  to  his  funeral,  I,  the  only  mourner  of 
that  damnable  villain,  only  three  days  ago, 
placed  flowers  upon  his  grave,  shed  tears — 
yes,  I  did — shed  tears,  when  I  thought  of 
the  poor,  lonely,  friendless  old  man  taken 
off  so  suddenly  and  no  kith  nor  kin  to  care 
whether  he  was  in  the  world  or  out  of  it. 
Fowler,  if  ever  there  was  a  man  in  whom  I 
felt  I  could  have  placed  my  trust,  it  was  that 
rascally,  old,  double-faced  traitor.  Whom 
can  we  trust,  Fowler?  Whom  about  us? 
H 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

I'm  suspicious  of  every  one  of  my  fellows ! 
I've  warped  my  faith  in  human  nature." 

He  paused  for  a  minute  and  passed  his 
hand  again  over  his  brow. 

"And  now,"  put  in  Fowler,  "  it's  time 
for  my  first  advice:  Eat  that  slice  of  duck 
and  wash  it  down  with  another  glass  of 
wine." 

In  the  pause  that  followed  the  lawyer 
glanced  about  him.  The  Frenchman,  four 
tables  off,  well  beyond  earshot,  was  gazing 
abstractedly  over  the  top  of  his  paper  as  he 
sipped  his  coffee  from  a  tall  glass.  The 
college  boys  were  arguing  over  the  bill,  and 
the  lady  in  the  red  hat,  who  was  waxing 
sentimental,  was  stroking  her  companion's 
hand  to  his  evident  satisfaction. 

It  was  with  some  difficulty  that  Fowler 
could  conceal  a  certain  irritation  that  he 
felt  at  having  been  called  back  by  Lorrimer's 
imperative  telegram  to  listen  to  what  he 
supposed  would  be  some  grievance  of  small 
moment,  yet  his  friend  and  client's  state  of 
mind  precluded  him  from  showing  anything 
but  the  kindest  solicitude.  Lorrimer  needed 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

a  mental  lift  over  a  crisis  that,  great  or  small, 
had  borne  heavily  upon  his  mind  and  spirit. 
And  Fowler,  despite  his  reputation  as  a 
merciless  cross-examiner,  and  the  most  suc- 
cessful man  in  his  particular  line  that  ever 
practiced  at  the  bar  of  his  State,  had  a  kindly 
heart  for  those  who  had  touched  his  softer 
side. 

"  Confound  that  Frenchman  over  there !  " 
broke  in  Lorrimer  suddenly.  "  I  caught  his 
reflection  in  the  glass  just  now  staring  at 
us  as  if  we  were  wild  animals.  Do  you  think 
he  could  be — "  and  he  lowered  his  voice 
again,  "  I  mean,  do  you  think  he  suspects 
anything?  Eh?  Could  he? " 

Fowler  looked  up,  ill  concealing  his  anx- 
iety. Was  his  friend  so  urgently  in  need 
of  a  doctor  after  alll  Was  this  a  sign  of  a 
bad  mental  twist?  He  remembered  that 
Lorrimer's  uncle  on  his  mother's  side  had 
ended  his  days  in  a  private  sanitarium.  But 
there  was  nothing  that  he  had  ever  detected 
in  his  client  that  would  give  occasion  for  any 
suspicion  of  his  proper  brain  balance,  and, 
even  now,  the  food  and  the  wine  seemed  to 
16 


The  Frenchman  was  gazing  abstractedly  over  the  top  of 
his  paper. 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

have  quieted  his  nerves;  his  restless  hands 
had  stopped  their  constant  flexing. 

The  lawyer  replied  to  the  question  with  a 
laugh. 

"  He  couldn't  hear  a  whisper  of  anything 
you  said,  and  if  he  did,  probably  wouldn't 
understand  it.  There  now,  he's  turned  his 
back  to  us!  Go  on  with  the  story,  which, 
to  tell  the  truth,  you  haven't  yet  started." 

"  On  Friday  night,  last,"  said  Lorrimer, 
beginning  again,  "  I  intended  to  have  gone 
down  to  the  steamer  and  to  have  spent  the 
night  on  board,  but  I  concluded  to  leave  in 
the  early  morning  instead,  so  I  sent  down 
Judson  with  my  luggage — by  the  way,  I  had 
him  here  just  now  reserving  the  table  for 
us — I  hope  I  can  trust  Judson,  but  I  don't 
know — I  don't  know !  Well,  I  went  to  bed 
after  some  work  in  my  studio  with  old 
Straub,  in  fact,  I  left  him  there,  packing 
away  some  prints  and  preparing  the  plates 
for  my  new  catalogue.  Incidentally  that 
night  we  were  to  destroy  the  plates  of  the 
Sir  Richard  Pearson,  a  facsimile  I  had  made 
of  Boydell's  celebrated  engraving.  Often 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

Straub  had  let  himself  out  of  the  house  at 
night;  he  had  complete  run  of  the  whole 
establishment  and  came  and  went  when  he 
pleased — he  was  so  much  there  that  I  had 
never  thought  of  his  living  anywhere  else; 
he  often  slept  there  in  the  little  back  room. 
Somewhere  I  had  scribbled  down  the  address 
of  his  lodgings  that  he  had  given  me,  but  I 
had  mislaid  it.  He  was  a  close-lipped  man; 
why,  for  days  and  days  we  would  work  to- 
gether without  a  word  of  conversation!  I 
have  my  silent  streaks,  you  know,  and  he 
fitted  well  to  my  moods.  About  him  I  knew 
nothing  except  that  he  had  come  from  some 
little  German  town  not  far  from  Bremen, 
and  I  judge  had  had  some  family  trouble 
or  perhaps  some  more  serious  one.  He  told 
me  he  had  no  relations  living.  I  had 
stumbled  across  him  ten  or  twelve  years 
ago  by  accident;  far  as  I  knew  he  hadn't 
another  friend  in  the  city — so  much  for  him ! 
...  At  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing I  was  awakened  by  the  sound  of  a  jar, 
and  I  rose  up  in  bed  and  listened.  I  even 
went  out  into  the  hall  and  turned  on  the 
18 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

electric  light.  Hearing  nothing  further,  I 
concluded  that  old  Straub,  staying  later  than 
usual,  had  let  himself  out  and  forgetfully 
slammed  the  door. 

"  Judson  woke  me  in  the  morning  early, 
and  as  I  intended  to  get  my  breakfast  at  the 
club,  there  being  no  other  servants  at  the 
house,  I  dressed  and  rang  for  a  cab,  and 
after  waiting,  impatiently  concluded  that  the 
call  must  be  out  of  order  and  sent  Judson  to 
pick  one  up  on  the  Avenue.  When  he  had 
gone,  something  impelled  me  to  go  to  the 
studio,  which,  as  you  know,  is  in  what  was 
once  a  stable  extension  to  the  house,  but 
was  never  used  as  such  since  I  built  up  the 
alleyway  and  connected  the  two  buildings. 
Straub  and  I  were  the  only  ones  who  ever 
entered  there;  he  had  a  key  as  well  as  I 
myself,  but  to  my  surprise,  this  morning  the 
door  was  unlocked. 

"  I  stepped  inside,  and  as  I  went  over 
toward  the  window  to  raise  the  blind — it 
was  yet  very  early  in  the  morning  and  out- 
side dark  and  rainy — I  stumbled  over  some- 
thing and  fell  .  .  .  Man!  do  you  know 
19 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

what  I  did?  I  fell  upon  the  dead  body  of  my 
assistant,  lying  there  on  his  back!  I  was 
quite  sure  that  he  was  dead,  for  my  hand 
had  come  in  contact  with  his  cold  face.  I  al- 
most marvel  now  at  my  behavior — I  neither 
shrieked  nor  fainted.  At  once  I  went  to  the 
telephone  and  called  up  the  doctor  who 
lived  at  the  corner  of  the  Avenue.  I  was  so 
shocked  and  upset  that  I  didn't  know  exactly 
what  to  do,  but  I  remember,  against  my  bet- 
ter knowledge,  trying  to  do  something  to 
bring  life  back  to  that  cold-stiffened  body. 
As  I  opened  his  coat  my  hand  touched 
something  hard;  feeling  for  it,  I  discovered 
a  long,  thin-bladed  dirk  knife  in  a  leather 
case. 

"  Without  thinking  that  the  searching 
should  be  the  coroner's  work,  I  hastily  looked 
through  his  other  pockets;  the  only  thing  they 
contained  was  a  large  bunch  of  keys,  among 
them  being  a  key  to  my  own  front  door  and 
one  to  the  studio.  By  this  time  the  doctor 
had  arrived —  Oh,  I  forgot  to  tell  you — the 
first  one  I  telephoned  for  not  being  in,  I  had 
sent  Judson  out  to  fetch  one,  when  he  arrived 
20 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

with  the  cab.  Strange  to  say,  it  was  Doctor 
Mahler,  the  brother  of  the  coroner  himself. 
He  made  a  hurried  examination  and  pro- 
nounced the  verdict  I  had  expected — heart 
disease !  Without  any  hesitation  he  made 
out  the  certificate  to  that  effect;  but  in  order 
that  everything  should  be  right,  he  said  that 
he  would  call  upon  his  brother  and  bring  him 
to  the  house. 

"  By  that  time  I  glanced  at  my  watch  and 
found  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to 
catch  the  steamer.  It  lacked  but  ten  min- 
utes of  the  hour  of  sailing.  Without  a 
thought  I  let  it  go  without  me,  intending  to 
sail  on  the  following  boat  of  the  same  line, 
which,  as  you  say,  leaves  to-morrow  morning 
at  ten  o'clock." 

"And  now,"  interrupted  Mr.  Fowler, 
"  my  advice  is  another  sip  of  champagne 
and  some  of  this  delicious  salad.  Don't 
think  my  being  so  material  betrays  any  lack 
of  interest;  I  don't  intend —  What's  the 
matter?  " 

Lorrimer  had  interrupted  him  by  grasp- 
ing him  by  his  coat  sleeve. 
21 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

"  Did  you  see  that?  "  he  almost  hissed  in 
excitement.  "  That  man  is  watching  us ! 
I  caught  a  look  in  his  face  just  now!  Did 
you  ever  see  such  eager  eyes?  Have  I  been 
shouting?  Have  I  been  talking  loud?  For 
the  life  of  me  I  cannot  help  but  feel  that  he 
is  drinking  me  in — reading  my  mind — seeing 
what  is  in  my  heart !  " 

"  Oh,  come,  come !  "  replied  Fowler  in 
the  half-irritated  and  reassuring  tone  one 
might  use  to  a  person  afraid  in  the  dark- 
ness; "you  certainly  will  attract  attention 
if  you  become  too  dramatic.  There!  our 
friend  has  yawned  in  his  whiskers.  He  is 
probably  as  far  off  as  Monte  Carlo.  What 
do  you  think  he  would  see  in  your  heart?  " 
He  essayed  a  little  badinage — "  I  have  heard 
that  there  was  a  woman  there  once,  but  they 
always  say  that  of  middle — ahem! — young 
bachelors." 

He  glanced  at  Lorrimer's  fast-graying 
hair. 

The  latter  paid  no  attention  to  this  at- 
tempt at  pleasantry. 

"  Fowler,"  said  he,  "  he'd  see  fear!  fear!  " 

22 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

"  Fear  of  what,  man;  what  have  you  to 
be  afraid  of?" 

"  Fear  of  publicity,  talk,  scandal,  dis- 
grace— fear  of — fear  of  the  law !  " 

Fowler  started  this  time,  his  ears  pricked 
at  the  word. 

"  Have  you  been  accused  of  anything?  "  he 
asked;  "anything  in  connection  with " 

The  incident  of  the  knife  came  to  his 
mind;  he  changed  the  form  of  the  ques- 
tion. 

"  Were  there  any  marks  on  the  old  man's 
body?"  he  continued;  "any  bruises,  contu- 
sions, wounds?  " 

"No;  the  doctor  and  the  coroner  exam- 
ined him — the  diagnosis  was  heart  disease, 
I  told  you." 

"You  could  rely  upon  this  evidence?" 

"  Most  certainly." 

"Well,  go  on;  I've  interrupted  you." 

"  By  heavens,  I  can't  go  on  while  that 
man  looks  at  me.  .  .  .  You  know,  I'm  sure 
I've  been  followed — what  is  it  they  call  it? 
— shadowed? — for  a  week  or  more.  It  was 
to  escape  this  idea  that  I  had  determined 
23 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

to  go  abroad  so  early.  Come,  let's  go  some 
place  else." 

"  Now,  look  here,  old  man,"  said  the 
lawyer  quietly,  "  that's  a  very  bad  sign. 
One  you've  got  to  fight  against.  So  I  won't 
yield  to  you.  As  for  your  friend  yonder, 
we'll  settle  about  him  in  a  minute." 

He  turned  and  beckoned  to  the  head 
waiter  at  the  other  end  of  the  room;  at  the 
same  time  he  picked  up  the  cigar  list. 

"  You'll  let  me  pick  out  my  favorite 
brand?  "  he  said,  running  his  finger  down 
the  column.  As  the  head  waiter  bent  to 
listen  he  asked  a  low  question: 

"  That  gentleman  over  there  with  the 
pointed  black  beard;  it  seems  to  me  I've 
seen  him  somewhere.  Do  you  know  who 
he  is?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  waiter,  keen  to 
impart  information.  "  He  is  Monsieur 
Leon  Gautier,  an  artist,  I  believe.  He  is 
only  over  here  in  this  country  a  week.  I 
saw  him  in  Paris  a  year  ago  in  the  Blanda, 
where  my  brother  is  mdttre  d'hotel" 

"Ah,  that's  where  I've  seen  him,"  said 
24 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

Fowler,  as  he  gave  his  order.  u  There,"  he 
continued,  with  a  smile  at  Lorrimer,  as  the 
waiter  departed,  "  so  much  for  an  over- 
worked imagination.  Now,  the  rest  of  the 
story  and  we  will  come  to  the  trouble." 

"  How  far  had  I  gone?  "  asked  Lorrimer 
wearily. 

"  The  doctor  was  still  in  the  house." 
"  Oh,  yes.  Well,  as  I  said,  he  sent  for 
his  brother,  and  I  found  there  were  no  legal 
difficulties  whatsoever,  and  there  was  no  rea- 
son why  the  funeral  should  be  delayed. 
There  were  no  relatives;  and,  so  far  as  I 
knew,  I  had  never  seen  the  old  man  speak 
more  than  two  words  to  anyone,  except  to 
the  chauffeur  whom  I  had  last  year,  Fon- 
tine.  You  remember  him? — the  man  I  dis- 
charged for  getting  me  twice  into  the  courts  ? 
I  made  all  the  arrangements,  young  Dr. 
Mahler  was  of  great  assistance,  and  I  put 
a  notice  in  that  evening's  paper  and  one  on 
the  following  morning.  No  one  appeared 
at  the  funeral,  and  I  accompanied  the  body 
from  the  undertaker's  to  a  plot  I  purchased 
in  the  Lutheran  cemetery  on  Long  Island. 
3  25 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

It  was  on  my  way  back  that  I  felt  sure  that 
I  had  been  followed." 

"What  made  you  think  so?" 

"  I  can't  tell  you  exactly;  but  on  the  ferry- 
boat, as  on  several  other  occasions  when  I 
have  been  in  crowded  places,  it  seemed  to 
me  that  I  had  seen  the  same  face  or  faces, 
among  them  one  like  this  Monsieur — What- 
you-call-'m?  only  he  was  wearing  a  soft 
slouch  hat  and  had  short  hair,  and  then  there 
was  an  oldish,  gray-headed  man — not  very 
tall " 

"  That  might  describe  any  number  of 
men.  I  don't  believe  you've  been  followed 
— why  should  you  be?  " 

"  I  couldn't  imagine  then.     But " 

"  Do  you  want  a  bodyguard?  That's 
easy  to  arrange." 

"  No,  no,  not  yet — that  would  attract  a 
lot  of  attention.  No,  no." 

"  Well,  for  the  life  of  me,  I  see  no  cause 
for  all  this  worry,"  said  Mr»  Fowler,  pick- 
ing up  his  eyeglasses  and  glancing  at  the 
menu. 

"  You  may  see  why  later.  But  let  me 
26 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

continue.  As  I  had  not  been  to  the  club 
since  Friday  night,  I  determined  to  avoid 
my  usual  haunts,  and  so  miss  having  to 
explain  the  reason  for  the  postponement  of 
my  departure.  On  Sunday  afternoon  I 
found  the  little  memorandum  I  had  made 
of  Straub's  address,  and  called  there.  To 
my  surprise  he  had  not  lived  in  the  place 
for  almost  two  years.  They  could  give  me 
no  information  as  to  where  he  had  moved, 
or  even  the  date  of  his  departure.  I  in- 
tended, of  course,  to  consult  you  as  to  what 
I  should  do  in  the  matter  of  disposing  of 
any  property  he  might  possess,  if  I  should 
come  across  it,  and  I  wrote  a  letter  explain- 
ing the  whole  situation  and  giving  you  what 
information  I  possessed.  According  to  habit 
I  dressed,  intending  to  dine  that  night  in  a 
Harlem  restaurant  that  had  been  recom- 
mended to  me  as  a  place  where  one  might 
go  incog,  if  circumstances  might  demand  it. 
When  I  left  the  house  I  had  the  letter  in  my 
pocket  and  also  the  bunch  of  keys  done  up 
into  a  packet  that  I  intended  to  send  to  youf 
apartment  by  messenger.  As  I  stepped  to 
27 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

the  sidewalk,  a  small  boy  of  twelve,  who  had 
been  loitering  at  the  curbstone  looking  up  at 
the  windows,  accosted  me : 

"'Say,  are  you  Mr.  Brown?'  he  asked, 
looking  curiously  at  me. 

"  *  No,'  I  said,  *  that's  not  my  name.' 

"  '  Do  you  live  in  this  house?  '  he  asked. 

"  I  acknowledged  that  I  did  and  asked 
him  why  he  wanted  to  know. 

"  *  Do  you  know  an  old  Dutchman  named 
Carl  Strauss,'  he  went  on,  '  an  old  fellow 
with  a  white  beard,  who  walks  like  this?  ' 

"  The  youngster  gave  an  exact  imitation 
of  old  Straub's  shuffling  limp. 

"  *  I  knew  an  old  German  who  answered 
that  description,'  I  replied,  '  but  his  name 
was  Straub,  not  Strauss.' 

"  *  I  followed  him  once,'  said  the  boy, 
1  but  his  name  is  Strauss — he  lives  in  the 
same  place  I  do.' 

"'Where's  that?'  I  asked. 

"  '  Over  near  Thoid  Avenue — he  ain't 
been  home  for  two  days,  so  I  thought  I'd 
look  for  him.  My  father,  he's  the  janitor.' 

"  *  Then  your  father  is  the  man  I'd  like 
28 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

to  see,'  said  I,  '  and  if  you'll  take  me  there 
I'll  give  you  half  a  dollar.' 

"  *  I'll  take  you  for  nothing,  sir;  'tain't 
so  far,  the  way  I  came,  but  the  way  Strauss 
went  was  all  over  the  lot!  He  first  goes 
down  Thoid  Avenue,  comes  up  the  Sixth 
Avenue  *  L,'  and  walks  up  through  the  Park, 
and  takes  a  car  down.  Another  time  when 
I  tried  to  follow  him  I  guess  he  must  er 
knowed,  for  he  lost  me  in  the  shuffle.  He 
was  a  funny  old  chap — we  guessed  he  was 
nutty.' 

"  I  led  him  on  to  talk  as  we  walked  east- 
ward across  the  avenue.  Soon  we  came  to 
one  of  those  apartment  houses  that  had  been 
built  among  the  older  residences  and  tumble- 
down tenements.  It  was  a  fairly  neat  place, 
but  the  hallways  had  the  stagnant  smell  of 
bad  ventilation  and  odors  of  Sunday  cook- 
ing. There  was  no  elevator,  and  the  worn- 
carpeted  stairs  led  up  in  a  narrow  well 
through  the  center  of  the  building.  My 
little  guide  told  me  to  wait  while  he  went  for 
his  father,  and  I  stood  there  pondering  over 
in  my  mind  the  whole  situation. 
29 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  I  could  not  make  head  or  tail  of  it,  but 
at  last  I  thought  it  was  only  one  of  Straub's 
eccentricities,  and  his  desire  to  be  let  alone, 
that  prompted  him  to  circuitous  methods. 
The  boy  returned  in  a  few  minutes  with  the 
information  that  his  father  would  not  be 
back  till  eight  o'clock,  but  that  old  Strauss's 
room  was  on  the  top  floor,  and  his  father 
had  the  key.  It  was  then  I  bethought  me 
of  the  bunch  in  my  pocket,  and  I  hastily  tore 
the  packet  open  without  attracting  attention. 
Informing  the  boy  that  I  was  Mr.  Strauss's 
employer,  and  that  the  old  man  had  gone 
away  on  a  long  journey,  and  that  I  also  had 
a  key,  I  desired  him  to  show  me  the  old 
German's  room.  We  toiled  up  five  flights 
of  stairs,  and  I  found  that  the  story  we  ar- 
rived at  was  but  half  the  depth  of  the  apart- 
ment itself  and  had  but  two  doors  opening 
on  the  narrow  landing.  I  was  shown  to  the 
one  in  the  front.  Just  outside  of  it  a  narrow 
stepladder  led  to  a  scuttle  in  the  roof.  The 
back  apartment,  the  boy  told  me,  was  used 
as  an  old  storeroom. 

"  As  good  luck  had  it,  I  picked  out  the 
30 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

right  key  first  and  opened  the  door — a  feel- 
ing actually  of  sorrow  coming  over  me  as  I 
thought  of  the  poor,  old,  lonely  man  again. 
It  was  a  plain  little  room  with  a  narrow 
iron  bedstead,  a  bureau,  a  washstand,  a  gas 
cooking  stove  no  bigger  than  a  hatbox,  and 
on  the  window  sill  were  two  or  three  flower 
pots  with  unkempt  and  sickly  looking  plants. 
Tacked  on  the  wall  were  a  few  cheap  prints 
from  some  of  the  illustrated  papers,  the 
kind,  moreover,  that  a  man  of  Straub's  artis- 
tic sense  and  knowledge  would  have  utterly 
despised.  With  the  exception  of  a  china 
cat,  rubbing  against  a  china  barrel,  that 
served  for  a  match  safe,  there  was  no  other 
ornamentation.  On  the  corner  of  the  bu- 
reau stood  a  small  wooden  box  that  when 
opened  I  found  contained  tobacco;  it  seemed 
a  little  heavy  as  I  lifted  it,  however,  and 
something  seemed  to  slide  in  the  bottom. 
I  dug  down  with  my  fingers  and  brought 
forth  a  small  gold-mounted  mother-of-pearl- 
handled  revolver.  Again  I  was  puzzled. 
This  in  connection  with  the  knife  suggested 
some  fear  on  Straub's  part  of  an  enemy. 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

The  boy  had  left  me  alone  as  soon  as  I  had 
opened  the  door  of  the  room,  and  had  gone 
downstairs  two  steps  at  a  time.  There  was 
no  one  to  see  me.  I  replaced  the  pistol  and 
hastily  pulled  out  the  bureau  drawer. 

"  Nothing  but  cheap  wearing  apparel,  but 
in  one  corner  was  a  bank  book  of  the  Ger- 
manic Bank.  It  might  tell  me  something ! 
But  a  glance  at  it  only  proved  that  Straub 
deposited  his  pay  regularly  and  almost  as 
regularly  drew  it  out.  Item  after  item  I 
followed  until  I  came  at  last  to  a  deposit 
of  almost  three  thousand  dollars.  Strange 
to  say,  that  also  had  been  drawn  against  on 
the  third  day  following,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  according  to  the  book,  he  must 
have  had  less  than  sixty  dollars  to  his  credit. 
What  had  he  done  with  the  money?  My 
attention  was  now  drawn  to  the  door  of 
the  closet.  Trying  it  I  found  it  locked;  but 
one  of  the  keys  that  I  took  off  the  bunch 
opened  it,  and  there  hung  a  few  old  suits  of 
clothes  and  a  long,  much-embroidered  dress- 
ing gown. 

"  There  were  some  things  on  the  shelves 
32 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

that,  in  the  darkness,  I  could  not  see.  Taking 
a  match  from  my  pocket  I  struck  it  on  the 
wall.  Instead  of  lighting,  the  match  tore 
a  large  gash  in  the  wall  paper,  that  appar- 
ently hung  loose.  But  as  I  tried  it  a  second 
time  it  flared  up  brilliantly.  There  was 
nothing  but  some  bottles  of  medicine,  some 
tinned  meats  and  vegetables,  and  a  few  odds 
and  ends  on  the  shelves,  and  I  turned  to 
see  what  damage  I  had  done.  As  I  bent 
forward  I  stopped — there,  evidently  hidden 
by  the  flap  of  wall  paper,  was  a  keyhole 
for  a  small  flat  key.  Somewhat  mystified, 
I  sought  the  bunch  again  and  chose  one  by 
feeling,  for  the  match  had  now  gone  out. 
I  inserted  it  in  the  lock,  and,  to  my  half  fear 
and  half  delight,  it  turned,  and  a  small 
door  opened.  It  was  only  about  two  feet 
wide,  fitting  at  the  top  and  bottom  against 
the  surbase  and  the  wooden  rack  upon  which 
hung  the  clothes.  It  was  deftly  concealed. 
A  draught  must  have  been  created,  for  the 
closet  door  closed  with  a  bang.  The  other 
key  I  had  left  on  the  outside!  For  a  mo- 
ment my  heart  failed  me  but  I  found  there 
33 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

was  no  spring  lock,  and  I  could  easily  get 
out.  Cautiously  I  stepped  forward  through 
the  small  door,  feeling  with  my  foot  before 
me.  It  trod  on  something  soft  and  yield- 
ing  " 

"  Go  on,"  said  the  lawyer,  for  the  first 
time  breaking  the  silence,  a  shiver  of  live 
interest  coursing  down  his  spine.  "  Go  on!  " 

"  I  stooped  and  found  that  it  was  a  layer 
of  thick  carpet.  Searching  in  my  pocket  I 
found  another  match  and,  striking  it,  held 
it  above  my  head. 

"  I  was  in  a  large  room,  three  or  four 
times  the  size  of  the  one  I  had  left.  But 
the  first  thing  that  caught  my  eye  was  a  gas 
jet.  I  turned  and  lit  it.  The  light  flooded 
the  apartment.  It  was  almost  a  replica  of 
my  own  studio!  In  one  corner  stood  a 
camera  identically  the  same  as  the  one  I 
use  and  that  I  call  my  *  microscopic  en- 
larger.'  There  was  my  engine  ruler,  and  the 
skylight  in  the  roof  was  shaded  by  double 
rolling  screens,  the  same  I  use  in  moderating 
the  light  in  my  studio.  The  villain  had 
adapted,  practically  stolen,  all  of  my  pet 
34 


It  was  almost  a  replica  of  my  own  studio. 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

methods.  With  his  skill  he  could  duplicate 
any  work  I  had  produced.  Even  the  means 
I  employed  for  aging  my  printing  paper 
were  there.  Here  was  explained  the  appear- 
ance of  the  bogus  facsimiles  that  had  so 
puzzled  Servin  and  myself.  As  I  looked 
about  me  I  could  almost  feel  the  invisible 
presence  of  old  Straub.  On  the  etching  table 
lay  his  glasses  and  his  pipe,  his  eye-shade 
and  his  engraving  tools.  The  press  in  the 
corner  was  as  delicate  as  mine  and  fully  as 
powerful.  The  acid  trays  and  all  the  ap- 
purtenances were  well  chosen,  and  running 
water  was  provided  from  two  faucets  that 
dripped  into  a  porcelain  catch-basin. 

"  The  old  man's  perfidy  was,  however,  not 
apparent  until  I  had  examined  closely. 
There  on  a  table  was  a  plate  of  one  of  my 
best  facsimiles — only  my  private  mark  and 
indentation  carefully  erased!  Strange  to 
say,  when  this  discovery  dawned  upon  me,  I 
grew  inwardly  most  calm.  For  a  moment 
the  humor  of  the  whole  situation  forced  itself 
uppermost.  Here  was  I,  an  expert  in  the 
detection  of  fraudulent  prints,  one  whose 
35 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

judgment  was  taken  as  final,  training  in  my 
own  studio  a  man  whose  work  might  even 
deceive  myself.  I  recollected  the  celebrated 
discovery  in  Paris  of  three  years  ago  that 
had  staggered  most  collectors — the  sale  of 
the  private  albums  of  a  *  Monsieur  Duclos  ' 
containing  many  specimens  upon  which  I 
had  passed  judgment.  In  fact,  in  my  own 
collection  I  possess  some  to-day.  Forgeries, 
no  doubt,  Fowler — forgeries  all  of  them! 
My  own  second-hand  forgeries,  as  they 
might  be  called.  I  pledge  you  my  word  I 
stood  there  and  laughed.  But  we  won't 
waste  time  in  dwelling  on  my  sensations." 

"  I  can  well  imagine  them,"  returned 
Fowler,  noticing  with  some  relief  that  a 
smile  flitted  in  the  corners  of  his  friend's 
lips;  "but  I  really  don't  see  where  the 
trouble  comes  in.  You  were  the  only  man 
competent  to  judge  whether  your  own  work 
was  original  or  not,  and  certainly  your  con- 
science must  free  you  from  any  charge  of 
fraud." 

"  Well  and  good,"  rejoined  Lorrimer, 
"  but  let  me  go  on:  The  door  that  led  into 
36 


WITH  EAGER  EYES 


the  hallway  was  barred  by  a  big  oak  beam 
fastened  to  two  iron  brackets  at  the  side, 
and  in  front  of  it  was  a  bureau  and  a  few 
heavy  packing  cases.  The  empty  boxes 
round  about  were  ready  for  the  immediate 
removal  of  the  paraphernalia.  I  examined 
further,  and  now  -  " 

Lorrimer  again  lowered  his  voice  to  a 
whisper  and  drops  of  perspiration  gathered 
on  his  forehead  —  "  As  I  moved  about,  my 
footsteps  were  absolutely  hushed  in  the  soft 
carpet.  I  was  amazed  at  my  own  stillness. 
I  perceived  that  the  press  stood  in  a  bed  of 
sand  that  must  have  muffled  any  jar  that 
might  be  heard  through  the  building.  I  tore 
from  one  corner  to  the  other  and  then  I 
came  upon  the  fateful  discovery  !  In  a  desk 
in  the  corner  I  found  some  sheets  of  greenish 
paper,  stiff,  crisp,  but  flexible,  and  under- 
neath, two  plates  ready  for  the  press.  The 
paper  anyone  would  recognize  in  an  instant. 
There  is  only  one  place  they  make  it  or 
anything  like  it  —  Dalton,  Massachusetts.  If 
it  is  not  the  real  paper,  it  is  the  best  imita- 
tion that  ever  was  made!  " 
37 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

"  But  the  plates,  the  plates  1  what  were 
they?  "  inquired  Fowler  impatiently. 

"  They  were  plates,"  said  Lorrimer 
hoarsely,  "  of  a  one-thousand  and  of  a  one- 
hundred-dollar  bill,  perfect  but  for  the  intro- 
duction of  the  series  and  the  numbers.  They 
might  require  four  printings.  Often  I  have 
made  replicas  that  required  five — not  of  bills, 
mind  you ;  I  never  attempted  that !  " 

"  Don't  be  silly,"  said  the  lawyer. 
"Where  are  the  plates  now?" 

"  At  home,  in  my  house." 

"  You  took  them  with  you?  " 

Insensibly  he  had  fallen  into  his  cross- 
questioning  tone  of  voice. 

"  I  took  them  with  me,  and  the  paper, 
too;  there  were  but  a  few  sheets  of  it.  I 
intended  to  destroy  everything  at  first." 

"Good  Lord!  but  you  didn't!  Did  any- 
one see  you  leave  the  house?  " 

"  Not  a  soul.  But  there's  something 
more.  In  a  wallet  in  a  top  drawer  I  found 
one  proof,  complete  and  perfect." 

"Of  what?" 

"  Of  the  one-thousand-dollar  bill." 
38 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

"Where  is  it?" 

"  In  my  pocket." 

In  reply  the  lawyer  held  out  his  hand. 

"  Not  here,  not  here !  "  said  Lorrimer, 
protesting. 

"Why  not?  Don't  act  as  if  you  were 
afraid  of  anything.  No  one  is  watching  us 
— let's  see  itl  Hand  it  over  to  me." 

In  response  Lorrimer  drew  forth  his 
pocketbook  and,  taking  out  a  yellow-backed 
certificate,  pushed  it  across  the  table  to  the 
lawyer. 

"What  have  you  done  here?"  the  latter 
questioned. 

"  I  have  written  '  counterfeit '  across  it  in 
red  ink."  ' 

"  Seems  to  me  you've  spoiled  a  very  good 
one-thousand-dollar  bill.  What  did  you  do 
it  for?  "  said  Fowler  with  a  much-affected 
yawn.  Then  with  half-closed  eyes  he  con- 
tinued, "  I'd  like  to  compare  that  with  an- 
other." 

"  I  did,"  said  Lorrimer,  "  and  with  a  mi- 
croscope. Except  for  the  number  and  the 
series,  there  is  no  difference.  I  took  them  to 
39 


OUTSIDE  THE 


the  sunlight  yesterday  morning.  I  drew  a 
new  crisp  bill  from  my  down-town  bank.  I 
searched  every  corner,  every  curve  of  letter- 
ing and  engine  ruling.  As  I  was  doing  so 
a  puff  of  wind  blew  them  to  the  floor  —  it 
was  lucky  I  kept  my  eye  on  them  or  it 
might  have  puzzled  me.  So  in  order  to 
prevent  further  mistakes  I  inscribed  this  one 
with  red  ink.  I  was  going  to  a  detective 
agency  to  tell  the  whole  story  -  " 

"  Hold  on  !  I'm  glad  you  didn't  do  that," 
interrupted  Fowler  curiously.  "  What  did 
you  do  with  the  other  bill?  " 

"  I  took  it  to  my  up-town  bank  on  the 
avenue  and  deposited  it." 

"  Making  a  note  also  of  the  number  and 
series?  "  asked  the  lawyer. 

Lorrimer  faltered. 

"Well,  that  was  hardly  necessary;  it  was 
a  real  bill,  but  I  think  it  was  either  C  or  G  — 
I'm  not  certain,  it  might  be  B." 

"  You  could  swear  that  this  was  the  bill 
you  found  in  the  drawer?  " 

"  Why  —  er  —  yes,  of  course." 

"  Well,"  said  Fowler,  "  now  comes  my 
40 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

turn.  To-morrow  morning  you  will  deposit 
with  a  third  person,  preferably  your  bank 
or  safe-deposit  company,  the  plates  and  the 
paper  you  found;  the  bill  you  had  better  keep 
in  your  possession.  To-night  I  will  tele- 
graph to  Chief  Wilkins  of  the  Secret  Service 
to  come  on  from  Washington.  He  will 
meet  us  here  to-morrow.  I  am  afraid  you 
will  have  to  tell  this  long  story  over  again. 
But,  mind  you,  there's  nothing  to  be  worried 
about;  all  will  be  plain  sailing." 

"And  any  publicity,  any  newspaper  story 
will  be  stopped?  You  know  how  I  hate 
notoriety — and,  of  course,  they'd  make  a  lot 
of  it.  It  would  worry  me  to  death.  You 
must  see  to  that." 

"  We'll  do  our  best." 

"  Oh,  but  one  more  thing!  I  remembered 
when  I  returned  home  I  had  noticed  that  the 
rooms  underneath  Straub's  were  to  let.  I 
sent  my  caretaker — she  was  an  old  servant 
of  my  mother's,  thoroughly  trustworthy — 
to  take  them.  She  moved  in  with  her  little 
daughter  that  very  next  morning.  I  told  her 
to  watch  the  floor  above  and  let  me  know  if 
4  41 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

anyone  entered.  So  far,  no  one  has  been  up 
there  at  all." 

"  That's  the  first  wise  thing  you've  done," 
commented  Mr.  Fowler,  "  and  saves  me 
some  questions.  But  I  wish  you'd  left  every- 
thing as  you  had  found  it." 

"  Too  late  for  advice  of  that  kind," 
snapped  Lorrimer.  "  I  want  you  now  to 
help  me  tide  this  dreadful  business  over,  so 
nothing  will  ever  be  heard  of  it." 

"  That's  my  intention.  I  will  go  to  the 
Germanic  Bank  to-morrow  and  make  some 
inquiries  about  Straub's  account  there — I'll 
take  care  of  that.  But  let  me  tell  you,  old 
fellow,  you've  been  playing  with  fire  from 
the  beginning.  Despite  your  honesty,  to  pro- 
duce anything  valuable  that  is  like  anything 
more  valuable  is  a  dangerous  game." 

"  But  don't  you  see — "  put  in  Lorrimer 
excitedly,  and  there  he  paused. 

"  I  see,  of  course,  that  you  have  unwit- 
tingly almost  allied  yourself  with  the 
schemes  of  what  may  prove  to  be  a  gang 
of  clever  counterfeiters.  I  don't  think  old 
Straub  was  alone.  But  you  are  not  particeps 
42 


MAN    WITH    EAGER    EYES 

criminis,  nor  are  you  too  deeply  entangled  in 
the  unfortunate  chain  of  circumstances.  To- 
morrow evening  you'll  dine  with  me  at  the 
club  just  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  Come, 
let  us  laugh  at  it.  No;  I  don't  think  I'll  go 
up  to  your  house.  I  must  telegraph  Wilkins 
and  then  I'm  going  home  to  bed.  So  will 
you.  Cheer  up!  Telephone  if  necessary 
to-morrow  and  I'll  meet  you  anywhere  you 
say  at  any  time." 

Fowler  leaned  forward  and  clapped  his 
friend  on  the  shoulder.  But  his  attempt  at 
laughter  was  a  little  forced  and  hollow. 

Then,  still  affecting  amusement,  he  called 
the  waiter,  and  with  Lorrimer  at  his  heels, 
led  the  way  to  the  entrance. 

As  they  left  the  cafe,  the  man  with  the 
eager  eyes  paid  his  reckoning  and  followed 
slowly  after  them.  But  once  outside  he 
hesitated  and  came  to  a  halt  at  the  side- 
walk. Taking  from  his  pocket  a  long 
black  cigar,  he  lit  it  from  the  stub  of  his 
cigarette. 

"  So  that's  the  game !  "  he  said  beneath  his 
breath  in  good  English,  as  the  door  of  Lor- 
43 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

rimer's  cab  closed  with  a  slam.  "  That's  the 
game  he's  going  to  play!  " 

With  a  half  laugh  he  tossed  the  cigarette 
aside  and  sauntered  slowly  down  the  street. 
Keeping  to  the  south  he  skirted  two  large 
squares,  and  came  at  last  to  a  wide  and 
brilliantly  lighted  cross-town  thoroughfare. 
Dodging  ahead  of  a  trolley  car  as  it  rushed 
down  to  the  curve,  he  reached  the  haven  of 
the  crowded  corner.  There  he  paused  and 
took  out  his  watch. 

Apparently  he  was  surprised  at  the  late- 
ness of  the  hour,  but,  turning  eastward,  he 
moved  on  again  at  the  same  leisurely  gait. 


CHAPTER    III 

TWO   MEETINGS 

[HE  distinguished  stranger  had  strolled 
on  but  a  short  distance  when  sud- 
denly his  attention  was  called,  with  a 
vivid  interest,  to  a  brilliant  entrance  through 
which  could  be  seen  the  vista  of  a  long  room 
filled  with  people  moving  about  in  a  silly  and 
somewhat  aimless  fashion.  Occasionally  they 
swooped  down  on  some  strange-looking  pedes- 
tal into  which  they  inserted  a  coin  and  then 
gazed  in  half-embarrassed  amusement  through 
an  eyepiece.  The  results  of  these  operations 
were  more  or  less  amusing — judging  from  the 
aftermath  of  expressions;  some  were  evi- 
dently disappointing  and  not  up  to  the  framed 
samples. 

A  few  of  the  patrons  began  at  the  beginning 
and  sidled  down  the  whole  length  of  the  ex- 
hibit, with  an  evident  desire  to  get  the  worth 
of  their  money.     Others  flitted  from  pillar  to 
45 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

post,  sipping  in  butterfly  fashion  the  pleasures 
of  the  peep  show. 

A  keen-eyed,  lantern-jawed  little  man,  in  a 
neat  but  overcleaned  suit  of  clothes  and  a 
flaring  red  necktie,  was  one  of  those  who 
flitted.  He  had  been  there  a  long  time — 
once  or  twice  had  gone  as  far  as  the  door,  only 
to  return  again.  On  the  last  of  these  at- 
tempts to  break  from  the  fascinations  the 
place  afforded,  he  perceived  the  distinguished 
stranger.  Turning  back  with  an  air  of  reck- 
lessness, he  spent  a  penny  for  the  experience 
of  watching  a  pillow  fight  between  several 
plump  and  elderly  females,  labeled  "  Fun  in 
a  Dormitory."  When  he  looked  up  the 
stranger  stood  beside,  viewing  the  next 
penny's  worth  entitled  "  The  Old  Maid's 
Last  Chance." 

In  no  place  in  the  world  is  it  easier  for  peo- 
ple to  scrape  an  acquaintance  than  at  a  cheap 
show.  The  mere  fact  that  they  are  half 
ashamed  of  their  presence  excites  a  bond  of 
sympathy.  So  it  was  most  natural  for  the 
little  man  in  the  much-cleaned  suit  to  speak 
without  any  overtures  to  his  neighbor. 


TWO    MEETINGS 


"  That's  a  pretty  good  one,"  he  observed, 
glancing  round  quickly  while  the  machinery 
beside  him  was  busily  sputtering. 

The  reply  was  startling  in  its  irrelevancy. 

"  Is  there  anyone  watching  us?  "  asked  the 
black-bearded  man  in  a  low  tone,  his  eyes  still 
hidden  in  the  eyepiece. 

"  Nope,"  replied  the  little  one.  "  I  had 
about  given  you  up.  Why  are  you  so  late? 
I've  been  around  the  whole  thing  twice.  I 
suppose  they  think  I'm  from  Hohokus." 

"  I've  news  for  you,  Peters.  Trouble's 
ahead!" 

"What's  up  now?" 

"  Go  to  the  next  machine;  I'll  come  and 
tell  you." 

"  Oh,  you  make  me  tired  with  all  your  cau- 
tion !  "  remarked  the  wearer  of  the  red  neck- 
tie, obeying  and  spending  another  penny  to 
see  a  prize  fight  between  two  Chinamen. 

Again  the  tall  man  joined  him. 

"Who  do  you  suppose  I  saw  to-night?" 

he  said.     "  I  saw  Brown,  just  by  the  sheerest 

luck  this  time!     No  wonder  he  wanted  to 

keep  us  in  the  dark !     He  talked  for  an  hour 

47 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

with  a  man  you  might  know — at  least  by 
name — if  I  should  mention  him.  I  saw 
everything  they  said  to  one  another." 

"  Up  to  your  old  tricks,  eh  ?  Look  here, 
White,  are  you  playing  straight  with  us?  " 

The  tall  man  made  no  reply,  but  carelessly 
walked  off  to  another  pedestal.  The  small 
man  accepted  the  rebuff  with  apparent  good 
nature.  In  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  they 
met  again  and  took  up  their  apparently  acci- 
dental conversation. 

"  I  tell  you  what  you're  to  do,"  said  the  tall 
one,  smiling  and  standing,  as  if  waiting  his 
turn,  to  watch  a  fat  lady  try  to  get  into  a 
hammock.  "  You  will  see  the  rest  to-night, 
and  tell  them  that  the  whole  thing  is  off  for 
a  while.  If  you  don't  want  to  hang  around 
here  any  longer,  you  can  go  back  to  Chicago." 

"  What  do  you  want  me  to  do?  " 

"  Do  what  I  tell  you.  Strauss's  death  up- 
set everything  just  when  we  were  ready  to 
begin  operations,  and  now  there  are  other 
complications.  Brown's  got  the  plates,  con- 
found it!  But  I  tell  you  what,  Peters,  I 
won't  give  up  yet.  You've  all  seen  the  goods 
48 


TWO    MEETINGS 


and  know  they  are  the  best  ever.  Lucky  I 
only  let  Strauss  have  a  few  sample  sheets  of 
that  Rouen  paper.  You  know  where  to  meet 
me  to-morrow  night." 

As  if  accepting  this  as  a  dismissal,  the  short 
man  wandered  off  to  the  door,  hurried  east- 
ward, and  plunged  down  into  the  Subway  en- 
trance at  the  corner.  A  few  minutes  later  he 
emerged  again  some  bocks  farther  north,  and 
boarding  a  cross-town  car  that  was  still  drawn 
by  horse  power,  rode  over  toward  the  river. 
Getting  out  where  one  of  the  elevated  roads 
arched  over  the  juncture  of  the  street  and  the 
noisy  avenue,  he  entered  a  little  German  oys- 
ter house.  A  man  who  was  leaning  against 
the  short,  thick  barber  pole  next  door  fol- 
lowed him  in  and  greeted  him  familiarly. 

"Hullo,  Pete;  how  goes  it?"  he  asked 
carelessly. 

"All  to  the  bad,  Red.  But  I  saw  the  main 
guy  to-night.  He's  the  slick  one !  He  only 
speaks  to  me  as  if  by  accident;  he  won't  trust 
the  mails  or  any  third  party.  Where's 
Reeder?  "  he  concluded. 

"  He's  in  Sing  Wah's  laundry  next  door,  in 
49 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

the  back  room,  playing  fan-tan  with  the 
Chink.  He's  anxious  to  get  back  to  San 
Francisco  with  the  goods.  When  are  we  to 
get  them  anyhow?" 

"  That's  more'n  I  can  tell,"  said  the  one 
addressed  as  "  Peters "  gloomily,  seating 
himself  at  a  table.  "  Go  fetch  Reeder — tell 
him  I  want  to  see  him.  Hey,  Frank!  "  he 
called  to  the  old  German  at  the  oyster  coun- 
ter. "  Give  us  half  a  dozen  Cape  Cods,  will 
you?"  Then  to  the  other  he  went  on: 
"  Hurry  up,  Dalton;  get  a  move  on  you — 
bring  in  that  crazy  gambler." 

Suddenly  somebody  spoke  from  the  en- 
trance. 

"  Greeting,  good  friends,"  exclaimed  a 
musical,  well-pitched  voice.  "  Ah,  Brother 
Peters,  and  how  are  the  luscious  bivalves?" 

From  the  sound  of  the  voice  one  might 
have  supposed  that  it  was  a  young  man  speak- 
ing, but  its  owner's  appearance  belied  his  ac- 
cent. His  hair  was  white  as  snow  and  his 
beard  also;  but  his  forehead  was  smooth,  and 
the  lines  about  his  eyes  showed  not  age  but 
hard  living.  He  stepped  briskly  up  to  the 
50 


TWO    MEETINGS 


corner  of  the  table  and  now  his  whole  man- 
ner changed.  His  bright  eyes  went  lack- 
luster and  his  voice  cracked  and  trembled 
like  a  man  of  seventy.  The  hat  that  he  had 
taken  off  quivered  in  his  seemingly  palsied 
fingers. 

"And  haven't  you  got  a  few  pearl  oyster 
shells  you  could  spare  for  a  poor  old  man  who 
is  many  miles  from  home  and  has  lost  all  his 
possessions  to  an  unmentionable  Oriental?" 
It  was  really  pitiful;  even  the  exaggerated 
words  could  not  rob  the  voice  of  its  intense 
reality. 

"  Oh,  sit  down,  Reeder,  and  stop  your  mon- 
keying !  "  growled  Peters  testily.  "  There's 
something  we've  got  to  talk  over." 

"  Prithee,  chide  me  not,"  cried  the  cheery, 
ringing  voice  again,  as  the  palsied  fingers 
stopped  shaking  and  the  wrinkles  disappeared 
from  the  smooth  brow  under  the  plentiful 
white  locks.  He  picked  up  one  of  the  oys- 
ters in  his  fingers  and  dangled  it  in  front  of 
the  tough  young  man's  face. 

"  Sit  up  and  beg,  Red,"  he  said. 

The  tough  one  scowled. 
51 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  If  you  weren't  old  and  white-headed," 
he  grunted,  "  I'd  give  you  a  bash  in  the 
jaw." 

"  Mock  not  my  white  hairs,"  rejoined  the 
old  young  man,  slipping  the  oyster  down  his 
own  throat.  "  Red,  I'll  foot-race  you,  and 
dance  you  to  a  standstill,  and  if  I  could  get 
up  to  your  weight,  I'd  fight  you  to  a  finish." 

Then  he  dropped  into  seriousness  as  he 
drew  up  a  chair. 

"  Well,  what's  new?  When  are  we  to  get 
the  somolios?  " 

"  White  says,"  replied  Peters,  "  that 
Brown's  gone  back  on  us — no,  I  don't  mean 
that  " — he  lowered  his  voice — "  but  Brown's 
got  the  plates." 

"  Brown?  "  repeated  the  white-headed  one. 
"  I  doubt  if  there  ever  was  such  a  man  as 
'  Brown.'  It  has  a  fictitious  sound,  my 
friends.  Look  here,  Peters;  I  want  to  see 
White  myself." 

"  You'd  never  know  him,"  said  Peters 
shortly;  "  sometimes  I  can  hardly  believe  it's 
him." 

"Well,  would  he  know  me?"  asked  the 
52 


Sit  up  and  beg,   Red  !  " 


TWO    MEETINGS 


other.  "  I  was  a  handsome  youth  when  last 
we  set  eyes  on  each  other.  We  lived  near 
together  for  six  long  years.  We  were  so 
much  attached  to  the  place  that  we  couldn't 
tear  ourselves  away.  ...  I  bet  you  five  hun- 
dred dollars  I'd  know  him." 

"  Well,  he  won't  meet  you,"  snarled  Peters. 
"  I've  pledged  my  word  that  I  would  respect 
his  prejudices.  You  all  have  got  your  money 
regularly — you've  been  living  off  the  fat  of 
the  land." 

The  eyes  of  the  young  old  man  flashed. 

"  Well,  he'd  better  play  straight  with  us  or 
there'll  be  trouble.  I  won't  put  up  with  any 
of  his  nonsense.  You  can  tell  him  one  thing 
froVn  me,  and  that  is  that  /  know  a  thing  or 
two,  and  one  thing  is  that  I  know  the  real 
name  of  Mr.  Brown,  the  old  Dutchman's 
friend;  I  know  who  he  is  and  where  he  lives, 
and  more  than  that,  I  know  why  he  didn't 
sail  for  Europe  on  the  Campania  last  Satur- 
day. You  must  know  him,  too,  Pete.  On 
the  level,  come  now,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  I'd  like  to,"  said  Peters,  still  gloomily. 
"  Perhaps  I  may,  some  day." 
53 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

"  You  people  are  too  coony  for  me,"  ob- 
served the  tough  young  man,  disgruntled. 

"That's  right,  Red,"  said  Mr.  Reeder, 
"  but  you  study  hard  and  you'll  learn  a  lot 
more  than  you  pick  up  at  the  race  tracks, 
It's  a  funny  little  world  altogether  and  a 
funny  little  place — this  town  of  New  York; 
and  Mr.  Quinny  White,  alias  Monsieur " 

"  Hush,"  said  Peters  softly,  interrupting 
him.  "  Don't  get  too  gay." 

"All  right,  then.  But  he  isn't  the  only 
cautious  man  in  this  world  who  has  got  into 
trouble  by  being  too  intelligent — and  he  isn't 
the  only  intelligent  man  who  has  got  into 
trouble  by  being  too  cautious." 

"  We'll  hear  from  him  to-morrow  night," 
said  Peters.  "  That  was  his  message." 

"  Well,  if  that  is  all  the  news  you  have  for 
us,"  rejoined  Mr.  Reeder,  "  I  move  that  this 
jocund  meeting  stand  adjourned.  Red  " — he 
turned  to  the  younger  one  of  the  party  who 
had  been  listening  with  somewhat  stupefied 
astonishment,  and  tapped  him  on  the  shoul- 
der— "  you  run  off  to  night  school,  and  learn 
to  be  a  bright  little  man  like  your  uncle !  " 
54 


TWO    MEETINGS 


Without  another  word  he  turned  and 
walked  out  on  the  avenue.  A  moment  later 
the  other  two  followed  his  example,  separa- 
ting under  the  red  light,  each  going  in  a  dif- 
ferent direction. 

The  man  with  the  white  beard  hurried 
westward.  He  trotted  up  the  worn,  brown- 
stone  steps  of  a  palpable  boarding  house 
and  let  himself  in  with  a  latchkey.  A 
woman's  voice  greeted  him  from  the  top  of 
the  stairs. 

"  Where  have  you  been,  Sam?  "  she  asked. 
"  I've  been  waiting  for  you  and  I'm  almost 
dying  of  thirst  and  hunger.  I  was  about  to 
start  out  alone." 

"  Well,  we  can  go  across  the  way,"  said 
the  gray-headed  man.  "  He  is  a  churl  who 
would  let  his  wife  starve  to  death.  Prithee, 
come  on !  " 

"Any  of  the  rest  going  to  be  over  there?  " 
asked  the  lady  in  a  low  voice,  coming  down 
the  stairs.  "  Hold  on  till  I  tell  Martha  to  go 
to  bed." 

She  turned.  A  short,  thick-set  colored 
woman  was  standing  on  the  landing  above. 
55 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

She  seemed  to  understand  the  signal  waved  to 
her  and  disappeared  without  a  word. 

"Avaunt,  deaf  imp  of  Darkness!  "  said  the 
man  dramatically. 

"  You  didn't  answer  my  question,  Sam," 
went  on  the  woman,  not  paying  any  attention. 
"  I  asked  if  anyone  else  was  over  there." 

"  No,  no  one;  but  I've  got  a  lot  to  tell  you. 
.  .  .  How  did  the  new  turn  go  to-night?  " 

"  Pretty  good,"  she  replied,  stopping  to 
straighten  her  hat  at  the  dingy  hall  mirror. 
"  But  I'm  just  as  sick  of  it  as  you  are !  I 
thought  we  were,  all  going  to  be  rich  by  this 
time." 

As  the  light  fell  full  upon  her,  it  showed  the 
face  of  a  woman  nearly  forty,  who  was  still 
flashily  attractive  and  who  had  once  been  beau- 
tiful. But  the  hard  look  was  there  to  remain 
forever — the  paint  and  powder  and  the  masses 
of  blond  hair  could  not  disguise  or  soften  it. 
Yet  her  bold  eyes  were  intelligent,  and  the 
strident  voice  was  full  of  decision.  A  slight 
scar  from  the  corner  of  her  eyebrow  upward, 
was  partly  concealed  by  an  artfully  straggling 
lock. 

56 


TWO    MEETINGS 


The  man  opened  the  door  for  her,  and 
going  down  the  steps,  they  crossed  the  street 
to  the  family  entrance  at  the  back  of  a  corner 
public  house. 

It  was  a  cozy  little  room,  separated  by  a 
glass  partition  from  the  bar.  On  the  floor 
was  a  green  flowered  carpet.  On  brackets  on 
the  opposite  corners  were  two  plaster  statu- 
ettes— one  representing  a  woman  holding  a 
child  on  a  pedestal  and  the  other  a  photog- 
rapher standing  beside  his  camera. 

"  There's  a  strong  bid  for  your  pleasantest 
expression,  my  dear,"  said  the  man,  touching 
his  wife's  shoulder.  But  this  effort  brought 
no  response. 

"  Well,  Sam,"  said  the  woman,  drawing  a 
deep-chested  sigh,  after  the  waiter  had  de- 
parted with  the  orders,  "  when  are  we  going 
to  get  rich?  I'm  tired  of  supporting  you — 
and  that's  no  hazy  dream!  If  you'd  shave 
off  that  Santa  Claus  effect,  you  could  make  as 
much  as  you  ever  did  honestly.  You  can 
dance  as  well  as  ever;  we  can  do  our  old  turn 
together,  and  earn  real  money." 

"  Yes,  and  be  recognized  as  soon  as  I  step 
5  57 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

out  on  the  stage !  All  the  old  feeling  would 
come  back,  my  dear;  I  couldn't  help  it.  Yes, 
I  know.  It  would  be  a  case  of  '  What  is  he 
up  to  now?  '  on  all  sides.  I  tell  you,  Maisie, 
the  pleasure  of  being  able  to  look  all  the  fly- 
cops  in  the  face  and  have  none  of  them  know 
me,  instead  of  being  spotted  everywhere,  is 
more  than  I  can  give  up  for  a  while.  I'm 
not  going  to  play  the  '  Haunted  Life,'  me 
child — the  river  first." 

"  Oh,  come  down  to  cases !  "  said  the  wom- 
an roughly. 

"  Well,"  was  the  short  return,  "  Peters 
says  the  thing  has  got  to  be  postponed." 

"  He's  been  postponing  it  for  two  months. 
Is  that  all  the  news?  " 

"  That's  all  that  I  know  of." 

"  Well,  if  that's  true,  I  think  it's  time  you 
went  back  to  California.  You're  an  expen- 
sive luxury,  Sam,  much  as  I  like  your  com- 
pany." 

"  We've  been  getting  something  out  of  the 
economical  combination,"  said  her  husband 
good-naturedly.  "  I  have  an  idea  where  it 
comes  from." 

58 


TWO    MEETINGS 


"  But  you  never  know  where  it  goes,"  re- 
torted the  woman;  "  a  lot  you  know  of  econ- 
omy." 

The  man  smiled.  "  Economy,  my  dear,  is 
a  privilege  of  the  rich.  Something  is  going 
to  happen  in  a  day  or  two — we  may  need 
brains  and  beauty,  too,"  he  said.  "  Luck 
may  turn!  " 

"  Well,  it's  got  to  turn  pretty  quick," 
snapped  the  woman,  drumming  on  the  table 
with  her  fingers.  "  We've  lived  on  promises 
long  enough." 

"  Maisie,"  said  the  man,  not  in  the  least 
perturbed  and  speaking  softly,  "  if  I  gave 
you  the  name  and  address  of  a  certain  impor- 
tant party,  do  you  think  you  could  manage  to 
meet  him  to-morrow?  " 

"  I've  generally  been  pretty  successful," 
answered  the  woman.  "  I  succeeded  in 
meeting  the  governor  of  a  State  once,  you 
remember." 

"  True.  I  haven't  forgotten  that,"  an- 
swered Mr.  Reeder.  "  Pardon  me." 

"  He  pardoned  you,"   rejoined  the  lady, 
still  irritated,  but  with  a  flash  of  humor. 
59 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

"  True  again !  This  is  quite  as  important 
— perhaps  more  so." 

"  I  dare  say.  .  .  .  How  about  playing 
the  book  agent?" 

"  Never'd  do  in  the  world.  He  wouldn't 
see  you.  You've  got  to  meet  him  by  acci- 
dent; that  is,  informally,  so  to  speak." 

"  Have  his  horses  run  over  me,  like  the  last 
time  I  arranged  an  informal  meeting,  eh? 
Not  for  love  or  money!  No,  thank  you. 
Do  your  own  accidents  after  this." 

"  No  melodrama  will  be  required,  my  dear 
— farce-comedy,  if  anything.  Now  be  rea- 
sonable." 

"  I'm  to  play  the  enginoo,  I  suppose.  I 
can  see  myself !  " 

"That  depends  on  the  plot,  my  dear;  at 
any  rate  we  won't  talk  any  more  about  it 
here.  But,  the  play's  the  thing — that's  the 
fact  of  the  matter — and  the  position  of  lead- 
ing lady  is  up  to  you.  We'll  start  a  little 
company  of  our  own." 

"  What  will  you  do?  "  asked  the  woman. 
"  What  part  will  you  play?  " 

"  Oh,  general  utility,"  was  the  reply. 
60 


TWO    MEETINGS 


"  Come  now,  be  good-natured.  I  will  ex- 
plain all  I  know  about  everything  as  soon  as 
we  get  home." 

There  was  no  reply,  and  a  few  minutes 
later  the  actress  and  her  husband  left  the  cafe 
and  recrossed  the  street  to  the  boarding  house. 

Before  an  hour  had  passed,  however,  they 
had  again  emerged,  each  carrying  this  time 
a  large  hand  bag.  Hurriedly  they  walked 
over  to  the  avenue,  where  they  hailed  a  north- 
bound trolley. 

"Are  you  sure  Red  will  be  there,  and  are 
you  sure  you  got  the  right  number,  Sam  ?  " 
asked  the  lady  as  they  walked  down  the  aisle 
of  the  car. 

"  No  mistake  about  that,"  said  the  man. 
"  I  wish  I  was  just  as  sure  of  a  few  other 
things.  Red  will  be  there  with  the  cab — 
he'll  get  that  note  by  six  o'clock  to-morrow 
morning." 


61 


CHAPTER    IV 

AN   ECHO   OF   STRAUSS 

|R.  REMSON,  the  trust  officer  of  the 
big  bank  at  the  corner  of  the  ave- 
nue and  a  street  renowned  as  the 
home  of  clubdom,  closed  his  roll-top  desk  with 
an  emphatic  sigh  of  relief.  The  meeting  of 
the  board  of  directors  had  been  held  that 
morning,  and  on  such  days  Mr.  Remson  wel- 
comed the  closing  hour  with  added  gratitude. 
To-day,  especially,  he  had  reason  for  being 
pleased;  a  plan  of  his  for  the  enlargement  of 
the  bank's  business  had  been  put  through  suc- 
cessfully. He  could  play  his  rubber  of  whist 
at  the  Nutley  Field  Club  that  afternoon  with- 
out his  mind  wandering. 

The  clerks  were  leaving,  the  young  men 

heaving  into  their  coats  and  stamping  into 

their  overshoes  as   if  summoned  to   a  fire. 

Only  the  assistant  cashier  was  busy  over  his 

62 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRAUSS 

books.  He,  too,  was  giving  occasional  fidgety 
glances  at  the  clock.  At  last,  apparently,  he 
was  satisfied.  Going  over  to  the  door  of  the 
big  vault,  at  which  the  paying  teller  and  the 
cashier  were  standing,  he  put  the  big  ledgers 
into  their  places.  The  doors  were  shut  with 
a  peculiar  hissing  click;  the  time  lock  was  put 
on.  It  was  the  formality  that  ended  the  day's 
proceedings. 

The  watchman  was  opening  the  door  for 
the  gentlemen  to  pass  out  when  suddenly  a 
cab  drew  hurriedly  up  at  the  entrance.  A 
man,  carrying  a  large  flat  bundle  under  his 
arm,  jumped  out  and  fairly  skipped  across 
the  sidewalk. 

"Am  I  late?  "  he  gasped  to  the  watchman 
at  the  entrance.  "  I  hope  not." 

The  man  waved  his  hand  toward  the  group 
of  officials  who  were  coming  down  the  cor- 
ridor. 

"Afraid  you  are,  sir,"  he  said.  "  But  Mr. 
Remson  hasn't  left." 

The  gentleman  with  the  bundle  hurried  up 
to  the  trust  officer,  extending  his  hand  and 
nodding  to  the  others  as  they  passed. 
63 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  You  must  do  me  a  favor,  like  a  good 
friend,"  he  began  breathlessly. 

"Anything  in  my  power,  Mr.  Lorrimer," 
said  Mr.  Remson,  smiling,  "  but  I'm  afraid 
you're  a  little  late — if  it's  to  cash  a  check. 
We're  closed  for  the  day.  That  was  the 
teller  just  leaving." 

"  I  know,  I  know,"  was  the  hasty  reply. 
"  It's  not  that.  I  want  to  place  something  in 
my  safe-deposit  box.  It's  this,"  he  added, 
pointing  to  the  bundle  under  his  arm.  "  I 
want  to  leave  it  in  some  safe  place  until  to- 
morrow— maybe  for  a  day  or  so." 

"  '  Where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  cor- 
rupt, and  where  thieves  do  not  break  through 
and  steal,'  "  quoted  Mr.  Remson,  taking  the 
flat  packet  that  was  wrapped  up  in  newspaper. 
"  Hello!  it's  heavy,  isn't  it?  "  he  added,  bal- 
ancing it. 

"  It's  a  plate — two  very  valuable  plates, 
and  some— er — papers,"  returned  Lorrimer 
nervously.  "  I  intended  to  have  brought 
them  down  early  this  morning,  but  I — well, 
to  tell  the  truth — I — overslept  myself.  I've 
been  troubled  with  insomnia  lately  and  my 
64 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRAUSS 

man  didn't  awaken  me  until  a  few  minutes 
ago.  I  just  jumped  into  a  cab  and  rushed 
down  here — I  wouldn't  have  had  it  happen 
for  a  great  deal.  Do  you  know,"  he  lowered 
his  voice,  "  I  have  an  idea  some  one  tried  to 
get  into  my  house  last  night!  Some  one 
called  up  my  'phone  number  just  before 
twelve,  wouldn't  leave  any  name,  just  wanted 
to  know  if  I  was  in — I'd  gone  to  bed — there 
were  some  other  suspicious  occurrences.  It's 
too  valuable  to  have  lying  around.  I  couldn't 
tell " 

"  It  wouldn't  have  gone  into  your  box  in 
the  deposit  vault  anyhow,"  said  Mr.  Remson, 
measuring  the  bundle  with  his  eye. 

"  I  wasn't  sure,"  faltered  Mr.  Lorrimer. 
"  I  thought  it  might  go  in  cat-a-cornered. 
But  there  must  be  some  place  else " 

"  Too  bad  the  time  lock's  been  put  on  the 
big  vault,  or  we'd  give  it  a  secure  resting- 
place,"  observed  Mr.  Remson.  "  However," 
he  continued  reassuringly — humoring  the 
whim  of  a  wealthy  depositor — "  I  tell  you 
what  I'll  do;  I'll  take  care  of  it.  I'll  put 
it  in  my  own  little  depository  in  my  desk, 

65 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

and  you  can  get  it  to-morrow  whenever  you 
like." 

Suddenly  the  loud  tones  of  a  woman's  voice 
interrupted  the  conversation. 

"  But  I'm  sure  he  will  see  me,"  were  the 
words.  "  Please  let  me  speak  to  him." 

A  large  and  flashily  dressed  lady  was  ad- 
dressing the  watchman,  earnestly  and  excit- 
edly. 

"  I  am  sure,  if  he  would  only  speak  to  me 
— I  mean  if  I  could  only  speak  to  him — it  is 
really  of  great  importance — really  great,"  she 
continued,  laying  her  hand  on  the  watchman's 
arm — her  speech  evidently  intended  to  go 
beyond  his  ears. 

"What  is  it,  Patrick?"  asked  Mr.  Rem- 
son,  turning. 

The  lady  hurried  up  to  him,  almost  brush- 
ing the  watchman  aside. 

"  I  have  a  certified  check,"  she  said,  "  on 
the  Fourth  National  Bank.  I  intended  to 
have  got  it  cashed  before,  but  I  was  detained 
so  long  at  my  dressmaker's."  She  added 
this  feminine  excuse  most  naturally,  half  ex- 
tending at  the  same  time  a  bit  of  paper. 
66 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRAUSS 

Mechanically,  Mr.  Remson  reached  forward, 
and  the  lady,  without  handing  him  the  pa- 
per, went  on  breathlessly:  "  My  dressmaker 
would  vouch  for  me;  she  is  just  around  the 
corner,  and  I  must  leave  on  the  4.10  train 
this  afternoon  for  Philadelphia.  Oh,  oh, 
what  am  I  to  do?  It's  not  for  a  very  large 
amount." 

"  I'm  sorry,  madam,"  began  Mr.  Remson 
apologetically,  giving  a  glance  at  the  check, 
"  but  banking  hours  are  over.  You  might 
get  it  cashed  at  some  shop  or  hotel." 

"  But  I'm  a  stranger,"  said  the  large 
woman,  for  the  first  time  flashing  a  glance  at 
Lorrimer,  as  if  to  include  him  in  the  conver- 
sation. "  I  live  in  Philadelphia  and  know  no 
one  here,  except  Madam — what's-her-name? 
— and  she  didn't  have  enough  money  or  she 
certainly  would  have  helped  me.  Oh,  what 
am  I  to  do?  It's  only  one  hundred  dollars, 
as  you  may  see.  I  have  some  bills  to  pay,  and 
I  must  take  the  4.10  train.  Oh,  dear,  oh, 
dear !  "  She  began  opening  her  little  reticule; 
her  voice  quivered  with  distress  and  vexation. 
"What  shall  I  do?" 
67 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

Mr.  Remson,  as  if  intimating  his  lack  of 
interest  in  her  immediate  or  future  proceed- 
ings, had  taken  the  large  flat  package  and  had 
gone  over  to  his  desk.  The  roll-top  seemed 
to  grumble  at  being  opened  again.  The 
lady's  eyes  for  an  instant  had  followed  him, 
and  then  had  sought  Lorrimer's  face — her 
own  brightened. 

"  Isn't  this  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  she  asked  sud- 
denly, "  the  collector  of  prints  and  the  maker 
of  those  wonderful  facsimiles  about  which  the 
art  world  has  spoken  so  often?  I'm  sure  I'm 
not  mistaken — my  husband,  who  is  much 
interested  in  the  same  subject,  once  had  quite 
a  modest  little  collection  of  his  own." 

"  You  have  my  name,"  replied  Lorrimer 
rather  stiffly;  "but  whom  have  I  the  honor 
of  addressing?  " 

"  Mine  would  make  very  little  difference 
to  you,"  replied  the  large  lady.  "  We  have 
never  met  before,  but  you  were  pointed  out 
to  us  once,  and  my  husband  then  did  what  I 
almost  seem  to  be  doing  now — forcing  myself 
upon  your  notice !  I  really  wish  to  tell  you 
how  beautiful  we  think  your  work  is — I  am 
68 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRAUSS 

quite  sure  we  have  some  mutual  acquaintances. 
Yes — let  me  see — who  used  to  speak  of 
you?" 

Lorrimer  by  this  time  was  interested.  As 
the  lady  stepped  to  one  side  he  followed 
her.  Mr.  Remson,  still  standing  by  his  desk, 
watched  the  conversation  with  a  smile  of 
amusement. 

"  I  used  to  know,"  went  on  the  lady,  with 
her  forehead  wrinkled  as  if  by  an  effort  of 
recollection,  "  an  old  German  who  did  some 
work  for  us — a  talented  old  fellow — it's  very 
strange,  what  was  his  name? — how  did  I 
always  remember  it?"  She  lowered  her 
voice  almost  to  a  whisper  as  if  testing  the 
sound  of  a  word  upon  her  lips;  then  she  began 
to  hum  a  little  tune — it  resolved  itself  into 
"Am  schonen  blauen  Donau." 

"  Strauss!  "  exclaimed  Lorrimer  excitedly, 
beneath  his  breath.  "  Yes,  I  knew  him.  Did 
you  know  anything  of  him,  madam?  Tell 
me,  tell  me !  " 

"Yes  I  did.  But—"  began  the  lady. 
Then  suddenly  she  stopped. 

Her  face,  that  had  gleamed  with  excite- 
69 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

ment,  assumed  an  appearance  of  weakness 
and  consternation.  Her  eyes,  staring  at  the 
door,  appeared  as  though  reaching  themselves 
out  of  their  sockets.  Lorrimer  followed  her 
glance. 

A  slight  little  man  of  nearly  seventy,  with 
a  white  beard  and  white  hair,  was  just 
entering.  The  watchman  greeted  him  with 
a  smile. 

11  Hello,  Mr.  Marston,"  he  said,  "  how's 
the  cold  to-day?  " 

"  Better,  better,"  replied  the  old  man  in  a 
hoarse  and  muffled  voice.  "  But  I  still  have 
to  be  careful.  .  .  .  Good  afternoon, 
Mr.  Remson,"  he  continued,  "  good  after- 
noon, sir."  At  the  same  time  he  bowed 
politely  to  the  lady  and  Lorrimer. 

"  Hullo,  Mr.  Marston,  glad  to  see  you," 
rejoined  the  trust  officer,  approaching.  "  I 
told  you  that  if  you  were  not  well  enough  to 
come  down  I'd  have  one  of  the  bank's  young 
gentlemen  stay  to-night  in  your  stead." 

"  I  might  as  well  be  here,  sir,  might  as 
well  be  here,"  continued  the  old  man  huskily 
but  pleasantly.  Then  bowing  again  he  passed 
70 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRAUSS 

down  the  corridor  with  a  combination  of  a 
bird-step  and  shuffle. 

"  Our  night  guardian,"  said  Mr.  Remson, 
explaining  the  old  man's  presence  to  Lorrimer 
and  ignoring  the  lady  whose  perturbation  he 
had  not  recognized.  "A  most  self-respecting 
old  fellow,  but  getting  almost  too  old  for  the 
work;  I'm  afraid  we  will  have  to  retire  him 
pretty  soon.  He's  had  quite  a  history,  by  the 
way — been  a  great  scholar."  He  stepped  to 
the  entrance. 

The  day  watchman  was  still  holding  the 
door  open,  but  Lorrimer  seemed  in  no  hurry 
to  move.  The  look  on  the  woman's  face  had 
evidently  disconcerted  him ;  even  now  she  had 
not  recovered  herself.  Her  lips  were  open 
and  her  tongue  was  vainly  endeavoring  to 
moisten  them  into  flexibility. 

"  Is  anything  the  matter,  madam?  "  asked 
Lorrimer  earnestly,  as  he  half  supported  her 
with  a  polite  but  firm  grasp  at  her  wrist  and 
elbow.  "  Can  I  be  of  any  assistance  to 
you?" 

The  lady  controlled  herself  with  difficulty. 

"  No,  thank  you,"  she  replied.     "  It  was 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

just  a  sudden  turn  I  had.     And  over  such  a 
little  matter,  too !  " 

She  opened  the  little  bag  she  carried. 
"See,"  she  said,  "my  purse  is  gone;  but  I 
remember  where  I  left  it — at  my  dressmak- 
er's. It  was  very  foolish  of  me  to  take  on  so, 
wasn't  it?  "  She  flashed  a  smile  at  Lorrimer 
that  found  no  echo. 

They  were  passing  out  to  the  sidewalk  as 
if  they  had  forgotten  Mr.  Remson's  pres- 
ence. The  latter  gentleman,  still  much 
amused,  was  watching  them  closely.  The 
words  that  Lorrimer  spoke,  however,  were 
too  low  for  him  to  overhear. 

"  I  must  have  a  talk  with  you,  madam," 
he  murmured.  "  It  is  of  great  importance 
that  we  should  have  a  few  moments'  conver- 
sation. By  the  way,  it  would  give  me  great 
pleasure  to  get  your  check  cashed  for  you." 

"That's  very  kind,"  replied  the  lady; 
"  very  kind  indeed." 

"  If  you'll  just  step  across  to  the  restau- 
rant with  me,"  Lorrimer  was  going  on,  with 
the   same   subdued   earnestness,    when    Mr. 
Remson  interrupted  him. 
72 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRAUSS 

"  Good  day,  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  said  he, 
politely  lifting  his  hat.  "  I  suppose  I'll  see 
you  to-morrow?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,"  answered  Lorrimer,  "  or  the 
day  after.  Good  day,  good  day !  " 

His  mechanical  reply  was  given  in  the  tone 
of  one  whose  mind  was  on  other  matters. 
He  hardly  nodded  in  response  to  Mr.  Rem- 
son's  bow.  As  for  the  lady,  she  paid  no 
attention  to  the  latter  at  all. 

The  avenue  was  crowded  with  swiftly 
moving  vehicles.  Lorrimer  paused  on  the 
curb,  half  extending  his  arm,  as  if  to  escort 
the  lady  over.  To  his  surprise  he  found  that 
she  had  turned,  and  was  standing  with  her 
back  to  him,  looking  down  the  side  street ! 
A  cabman  in  a  faded  green  livery  and  a 
battered  silk  hat  that  fitted  down  to  his  ears 
over  his  closely  cropped  red  hair  was  ap- 
proaching, making  energetic  gesticulations 
with  his  thumb  over  his  shoulder.  If  Lor- 
rimer had  been  at  all  suspicious,  and  if  at 
that  moment  he  had  not  given  a  sudden  jump 
at  the  blast  of  a  motor  horn,  he  would  have 
perceived  that  the  curtain  of  the  little  back 
6  73 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

window  of  the  first  cab  on  the  waiting  line 
was  lifted.  A  hand  there  was  repeating  the 
cabman's  almost  imperative  gesture.  The 
lady  had  noticed,  however,  and  had  turned 
again  quickly. 

"  I  forgot  to  pay  my  cabman,"  she  said, 
with  rather  a  forced  and  nervous  laugh, 
"  and  my  purse  is  at  the  dressmaker's.  How 
foolish!" 

"  Allow  me,"  said  Lorrimer,  stepping  for- 
ward. 

"  No,  no,"  she  broke  in,  almost  seizing 
him  by  the  lapel  of  his  coat  in  her  effort  to 
detain  him.  "  I  tell  you  what  to  do — you  go 
over  there  and  wait.  I'll  come  and  join  you 
in  a  few  minutes.  And  then,  if  we  haven't 
time  to  finish  our  little  talk,  you  might  drive 
to  the  ferry  with  me,  for  I  must  catch  that 
4.10  train." 

"  You'll  find  me  waiting  just  inside  the 
entrance,"  Lorrimer  replied  politely,  and 
lifting  his  hat,  he  strode  into  the  nar- 
row channel  that  the  big  policeman  had 
opened  through  the  vortex  of  streaming 
traffic. 

74 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRA  USS 

The  cabman  stepped  up  to  the  lady  and 
walked  back  with  her. 

"  For  God's  sake,  hurry,"  he  said,  mum- 
bling through  half-closed  lips.  "  He's  in  the 
cab  waiting  for  you — almost  out  of  his  head ! 
Quick,  get  a  move  on !  " 

He  almost  pushed  her  through  the  door 
with  his  shoulder  and  jumped  to  the  box. 
The  horse  lurched  forward  with  a  loud 
clatter  of  slipping  hoofs.  A  slight  figure 
that  had  been  huddled  in  a  corner  of  the 
seat  emerged  from  the  folds  of  the  lap 
robe. 

"  Lord,  Maisie,"  exclaimed  the  frightened 
voice  of  Mr.  Samuel  Reeder,  "  I  thought 
they  had  you  that  time,  sure !  " 

"  What's  come  over  you,  Sam?  "  cried  the 
woman.  "  Everything  was  working  out 
splendidly — oh — oh !  " 

The  cab  lurched  swiftly  around  the  corner 
on  two  wheels. 

"What's  all  the  hurry?"  she  asked,  try- 
ing to  control  a  desire  to  scream.  "  Has  Red 
gone  crazy?  Wait  till  you  hear  what  I  have 
to  tell  you — everything  was  working  out 
75 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

fine —  Heavens!  he  just  missed  that  baby 
carnage !  " 

"  Wait  till  you  hear  what  I've  got  to  tell 
you/'  was  the  response,  with  the  accent  on 
the  personal  pronouns,  "  and  you'll  want  all 
the  hurry  you  can  get.  I've  got  a  story  to 
tell  that'll  make  your  hair  curl  tight  up  to 
your  head." 

"  I  wish  it  would,"  said  the  woman;  "  it 
would  save  me  a  lot  of  trouble.  Ouch! — if 
we  strike  any  more  bumps  like  that,  most  of 
it  will  be  under  the  seat !  Oh,  darn  my  wig ! 
Go  ahead  and  talk;  I'll  hold  on  to  it." 

"  I  can't,"  said  the  man;  "  I  don't  know 
where  to  begin." 

"  Well,  take  your  time,"  said  the  woman, 
looking  at  him  suspiciously,  "  but  don't  act 
like  a  silly  gazabe.  When  you're  finished, 
I'll  tell  you  something  that'll  have  your  fairy 
tale  beaten  to  a  light,  white  froth." 

There  was  no  response.  The  cab  by  this 
time  had  reached  one  of  the  West-Side  ave- 
nues and  was  proceeding  at  a  more  leisurely 
gait. 

"  I'll  begin  as  soon  as  I  get  my  breath," 
76 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRAUSS 

said  Mr.  Reeder  at  last.  "  Give  me  a  little 
time — I'll  soon  be  ready."  Nevertheless,  he 
continued  to  prolong  the  pause  as  if  gather- 
ing his  thoughts  with  difficulty. 

Back  at  the  restaurant,  Mr.  Lorrimer  was 
pacing  the  floor  impatiently.  The  lady  had 
not  appeared! 

Fifteen  minutes,  twenty,  twenty-five  min- 
utes had  passed.  Mr.  Lorrimer  vibrated 
between  the  main  entrance  and  the  marble 
alleyway,  at  the  end  of  which  were  the  tele- 
phone booths.  His  nervousness  was  painful. 
He  tried  every  settee  in  the  corridor  as  if 
playing  a  solitaire  game  of  u  Going  to  Jeru- 
salem." Then  he  started  to  go  out  to  the 
street,  and  changed  his  mind  twice  while  still 
in  the  embrace  of  the  circular  glass  doors; 
the  result  being  that  he  completed  the  turn 
like  a  squirrel  in  his  exercising  wheel,  much 
to  the  amusement  of  the  doorman.  When, 
somewhat  bewildered,  he  stepped  back  into 
the  hall  again,  he  was  met  by  one  of  the 
hat-checkers,  who  joined  in  the  doorman's 
grin. 

77 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  The  gentleman  you  was  waiting  for," 
began  the  boy. 

"Where  is  he?"  gasped  Mr.  Lorrimer. 

"  There  he  is,"  replied  the  lad,  indicating 
a  short,  thick-set  man  down  the  corridor. 
Lorrimer  almost  staggered  up  to  him. 

"  Good  gracious !  "  cried  he.  "  You  must 
have  flown !  " 

"  Four  minutes  from  my  office  to  the  Sub- 
way station;  eight  minutes  from  City  Hall 
to  Forty-second  Street,  and  it  has  taken  me 
about  three  minutes  to  run  here.  Where's 
the  lady?" 

"  She  hasn't  come,"  said  Lorrimer  weakly. 

"  Oh,  she  hasn't  come,  hasn't  she?" 
Fowler  repeated  the  words  with  as  near  an 
approach  to  a  sneer  as  was  compatible  with 
extreme  politeness.  "Too  bad!  Too  bad! 
Now,  tell  me  all  about  it.  You  said  you  had 

just  met  a  lady  whom  you  were  now  talking 
. »» 

"  Had  been  talking  to,"  interrupted  Lor- 
rimer. 

"All    right — had    been    talking    to — who 
said  she  knew  Straub." 
78 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRAUSS 

"No,  Strauss!  "  corrected  Mr.  Lorrimer. 
"  Don't  talk  so  loud." 

"  Well,  she  said  she  knew  him;  mentioned 
him  by  name,  of  course." 

"  No,  she  said  she  knew  an  old  German 
engraver,  and  then  she " 

"Well,  well?"  Mr.  Fowler  tapped  his 
foot  impatiently  on  the  marble  pavement, 
and  took  out  his  watch. 

Lorrimer  was  floundering  by  this  time 
in  nervous  embarrassment.  "  Then  she 
— then  she — hummed  one  of  the  Blue 
Danube  waltzes,"  he  added  desperately. 
"  I  meant  to  have  detained  her  till  you 
came." 

"  And  you  brought  me  up  here  to  meet 
a  lady — who  isn't  here — who  could  hum 
a  Blue  Danube  waltz,  eh !  I  suppose  you 
thought  the  fact  that  she  was  a  hummer 
would  prove  of  interest  to  me.  What  will 
we  call  the  incident — '  An  Echo  from 
Strauss'?" 

Mr.  Fowler's  humor  did  not  appeal 
to  Lorrimer  in  the  least.  "  Well,  I'm 
paying  you  for  your  time,"  he  retorted 
79 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

angrily — "  and  we'll  call  it  five  hundred 
dollars." 

"  Oh,  come;  don't  let's  lose  our  tempers," 
said  the  lawyer;  "  let's  sit  down  and  you  can 
tell  me  the  whole  thing  just  as  it  happened. 
By  the  way,  where  are  the  plates?  " 

"  They're  over  at  the  bank,"  snapped  his 
client  testily.  "  I  gave  them  to  the  trust 
officer.  He " 

"  Good  I  Chief  Wilkins  can't  get  here  till 
to-morrow  afternoon.  Now  go  on  and  tell 
me  what's  happened." 

At  five  minutes  of  four  Lorrimer  had  con- 
cluded his  story,  but  still  there  were  no  signs 
of  the  lady. 

"  I  don't  know  why  she  hasn't  returned," 
he  added  shortly,  after  a  hurried  excursion 
to  the  main  entrance.  "  I  understood  that 
her  dressmaker  was  somewhere  on  this 
street — but  she  didn't  mention  her  name.  It's 
too  late  to  catch  her  at  the  ferry,  I  sup- 
pose? " 

"  It's  too  late  to  catch  her  anywhere,  I'm 
afraid.  What  a  pity!"  commented  Mr. 
Fowler  sympathetically.  "  But  I've  got  an 
80 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRAUSS 

important  engagement  in  half  an  hour,  and 
I've  got  to  get  back  to  my  office.  I've  really 
got  to.  You  can  wait  here,  if  you  please;  and 
call  me  up  on  the  'phone,  if  the  lady  mate- 
rializes later." 

"  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  it — what 
would  you  do  if  you  were  me?  " 

Lorrimer's  hands  were  shaking  as  he  asked 
the  question. 

"  I'd  go  and  get  a  drink,"  said  the  lawyer, 
"  and  forget  it." 

Lorrimer  glared  down  at  him,  stammered 
something,  turned  upon  his  heel,  and  left 
without  another  word. 

Mr.  Fowler  looked  after  him  and  gave  a 
sigh  of  commiseration.  "  He's  shadowed, 
all  right,"  said  he  to  himself;  "  shadowed 
by  shadows!  Poor  old  chap!  I'll  speak  to 
Dr.  Higgins." 

Another  instant  the  revolving  doors  had 
swirled  him  out  into  the  street  and  he  was 
heading  at  a  dogtrot  down  the  avenue. 

Mr.  Lorrimer  had  staggered  into  the  bar 
and  taken  the  legal   advice,   literally,   in   a 
glass  of  brandy  and  soda. 
81 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

So  we  come  back  to  the  cab. 

"  Maisie,"  began  Mr.  Reeder,  for  the 
third  or  fourth  time  attempting  to  start  his 
narrative,  "  you're  an  exceedingly  clever 
woman — that's  'pon  me  honor!  " 

"Cut  it  out,  cut  it  out!"  said  his  wife 
shortly,  "  and  tell  me  just  how  matters 
stand." 

"  Well,  you  know,"  began  Mr.  Reeder, 
"  when  I  saw  from  the  window  of  the  hotel 
that  our  friend  '  Mr.  Brown,'  alias  Lorrimer, 
had  left  his  house,  I  hurried  down  to  the 
little  front  room  where  you  were  waiting  and 
told  you  at  once." 

"  Yes,  and  I  jumped  into  Red's  cab  and 
followed  the  one  that  Mr.  Brown  entered 
at  the  corner — you're  only  telling  me  things 
I  know!  Now,  let  me  tell  you  something. 
Did  you  notice  that  he  had  a  bundle  under 
his  arm?" 

"Yes!" 

"Well,  he  had  the  plates!" 

"The  plates!"  gasped  Reeder.  "How 
do  you  know  it?  " 

"Well,  I  know.  Just  listen—"  And 
82 


AN    ECHO    OF    STRA  USS 

then,  womanlike,  she  changed  her  mind. 
"  But — but  you  go  on  and  tell  your  story 
first,"  she  added. 

"  No,  you  tell  yours,"  rejoined  her  hus- 
band. "  How  do  you  know  he  had  the 
plates?" 

They  were  still  disputing  as  to  who  should 
begin  when  the  cab  drew  up  with  a  lurch  and 
stopped. 

"  Well,  if  Red  hasn't  driven  us  back  to 
old  Schneider's!"  exclaimed  Reeder.  "We 
can  get  in  a  quiet  corner  and  decide  who's 
to  relate  the  next  chapter — we  can't  sit  here 
and  talk — and  this  is  no  cushion-tired  run- 
about." 

They  descended  hurriedly  and  stood  on 
the  sidewalk. 

"  You  did  right  well,  Mr.  Dalton,"  smiled 
Mrs.  Reeder  to  the  cabman;  "you  never 
missed  one  hole  in  the  pavement !  " 

"  I'll  go  turn  the  old  skate  in,  and  then 
I'll  come  and  join  you,"  said  the  driver,  lean- 
ing out  from  the  box.  "  Order  me  a  long 
one." 

"  Take  your  time,  Red,"  said  Mr.  Reeder. 
83 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  The  next  time  we  go  out,  mind  you  get 
a  gong." 

"  Now,  Sam,"  said  the  actress,  as  the  cab 
trundled  off,  "  not  a  word  do  you  get  out  of 
me  till  you've  rung  down,  mind  that — then 
I'll  take  the  center  of  the  stage." 

"Well,  I'll  call  my  story,"  began  the 
white-bearded  man,  as  they  seated  them- 
selves in  a  cozy  and  deserted  corner,  "I'll 
call  my  story :  *  The  Voice  from  the  Past.'  " 

And  forthwith  he  began  it. 


84 


CHAPTER    V 

THE   VOICE    FROM   THE   PAST 

|HERE  were  two  things  that  I  knew," 
said  Mr.  Reeder,  "  when  I  saw 
you  drive  off  in  the  cab.  One 
was  that  the  driver  of  the  other  one  would 
have  hard  work  in  losing  Red,  and  the  sec- 
ond was  if  you  got  half  a  chance  you'd  brace 
up  to  Mr.  Lorrimer  some  place  with  all  your 
hooks  out.  But  I  was  mad  when  I  found 
you  had  gone  off  with  that  hundred-dollar 
certified  check." 

"  That  comes  in  strong  in  my  first  act,"  said 
the  woman.  "  I'll  feature  it  when  it  comes 
my  turn." 

"  Well,  it  was  lucky  I'd  sent  off  our  bags," 
continued  Mr.  Reeder,  "  and  settled  the  ac- 
count for  the  rent  of  our  little  watchtower 
last  night,  or  I'd  have  been  in  trouble  I  Say, 
Maisie,  that  was  a  great  game,  wasn't  it? 
85 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

— you  and  I,  by  turns,  never  taking  our  eyes 
off  the  door  of  that  house.  How  many  hours 
was  it?  " 

"All  last  night,  and  all  this  morning  till 
ten  minutes  of  three  this  afternoon.  It  was 
a  good  thing  I  brought  the  opera  glasses, 
Sam." 

"  Well,  you  know  what  I  said,"  smiled  her 
husband,  with  a  youthful  wave  of  his  hand 
that  contrasted  strangely  with  his  curling 
white  locks  and  snowy  beard:  "you  are  an 
exceedingly  clever " 

"Go  on  with  the  story,  Sam;  quit  your 
kidding !  How  about  '  The  Voice  from  the 
Past'?" 

"  It's  a  voice,  Maisie,  that's  got  a  lot  to  do 
with  the  present!  I  didn't  recognize  it  at 
first,  but  when  I  did  I  can  tell  you  I  curled 
up  inside  that  telephone  booth  like  a  hair- 
spring in  a  watch — I  just  went  like  this !  " 

"  But  you  haven't  said  anything  about  the 
telephone  booth  yet,  Sam.  You've  got  the 
wrong  cue." 

"  Perhaps  so,"  went  on  Mr.  Reeder. 
"  It's  taken  longer  to  tell  this  than  it'd  take 
86 


THE    VOICE    FROM    THE    PAST 

Mr.  Pryde  Ritch  to  write  a  four-act  drama. 
.  .  .  Well,  I  go  to  the  door  after  you 
leave,  when  up  comes  hall  boy " 

"  '  Mr.  Saunders,'  says  he  (good  name 
1  Saunders,'  Maisie;  has  a  Western  sound, 
hasn't  it?),  '  you're  wanted  at  the  telephone.' 

"  Well,  it  was  up  to  little  Sam,  I  can  tell 
you !  We  only  invented  that  name  last  night, 
just  before  we  signed  the  hotel  register,  and 
we'd  never  left  the  place,  and  weren't  ex- 
pected to  know  anybody — so,  thinks  I,  it 
must  be  some  mistake;  but,  just  to  carry  out 
the  bluff — me  to  the  telephone  ! 

"  '  Is  this  No.  1643  ?  '  asked  a  voice  at  the 
other  end. 

"  *  No,'  said  I  politely,  '  this  is  No.  — ' 
Well,  I  forgot  what  it  was,  but  I  read  the  call 
number  off  to  him. 

"  '  No/  says  the  voice  again,  just  as  polite 
as  myself,  '  I  think  this  is  No.  1643.' 

"  That  was  the  time  I  did  the  curling  act, 
Maisie!  '  1643  '  was  mY  °^  number — you 
know  where!  And  I  used  to  wear  it  on  my 
clothes,  and,  by  the  powers,  it's  burned  deep 
down  in  my  mind!  For  a  minute  I  was 
87 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

tempted  to  hang  up  the  'phone  and  run, 
but  I  concluded  to  try  the  bluff  a  little 
further. 

'  You're  mistaken,'  said  I;  '  I  don't  un- 
derstand,' and  this  time  I  tried  to  speak  a 
little  through  my  nose ;  but  it  didn't  fool  the 
voice  for  a  minute. 

"'  Where  did  your  wife  go  just  now?' 
was  the  next  question. 

"  I  curled  up  again  and  said  nothing,  but 
I  wouldn't  have  dropped  that  receiver  for 
five  hundred — I  couldn't. 

'  Now,  see  here,'  continued  the  other 
end,  *  your  wife  just  drove  off  in  a  cab  and 
Red  Dalton  was  driving — you  needn't  answer 
any  more  questions;  but  if  you  don't  want 
her  to  get  into  trouble,  head  her  off  if  she  is 
trying  to  make  any  dates  with  Lorrimer." 

"  Now  by  this  time,  Maisie,  I  caught  on. 

"  'Are  you  there,  1643?  Are  You  there?  ' 
asked  the  voice. 

"It  was  up  to  me  again:  'Yes,'  said  I, 

'  I'm  here,'  and  I'd  given  the  world  to  call 

his  number  to  my  mind,  but  I  couldn't  think 

of  it  to  save  me !     So  the  other  end  went  on 

88 


THE    VOICE    FROM    THE    PAST 

talking,  and  this  time  I  recognized  every 
tone  so  I  could  have  sworn  to  it. 

"  '  Sam,'  it  pleaded,  '  play  on  the  level.  If 
your  wife  meets  Lorrimer,  it's  all  up.  He's 
blown  the  whole  thing  and  stands  in  with 
the  beaks.  If  you  will  insist  upon  me  talk- 
ing plain,  Chief  of  the  Secret  Service  Wil- 
kins,  from  Washington,  is  to  meet  him  at  his 
bank  this  morning.' 

"'What  bank?'  asked  I.  He  gave  me 
the  name.  '  Get  there  quick  as  you  can,' 
he  ordered;  *  head  her  off,  for  heaven's  sake !  ' 

"  There  was  a  buzz  and  a  click,  and  the 
next  thing  I  got  was  Central  inquiring  what 
I  wanted.  I  couldn't  stop  to  fool  around! 
The  quickest  way  to  reach  the  bank  was  to 
take  the  trolley,  and  if  I  had  luck  I  might 
get  to  the  corner  ahead  of  you  and  signal  Red 
to  haul  off  before  you  had  a  chance  to  make 
a  break. 

"  Well,  everything  happened !  First,  it 
was  a  coal  wagon,  then  it  was  a  grocery  cart, 
then  it  was  a  fat  old  lady  who  walked  with  a 
stick,  then  it  was  a  governess  with  six  chil- 
dren who  all  wanted  to  get  into  the  car  last; 
7  89 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

then  it  was  a  drunk  who  had  to  be  put  off. 
I  could  help  there  a  little.  I  guess  they 
were  surprised  at  an  old  gray-headed  codger 
like  myself  chucking  a  hundred-and-eighty 
pounder  clean  out  to  the  gutter,  but  I  made 
no  bones  of  it!  Before  that  car  got  down 
into  the  Forties  I  would  have  bought  min- 
utes at  ten  dollars  apiece,  and  boosted  them 
a  few  scads  higher  in  the  market,  as  a  big 
delivery  wagon  drew  out  of  the  express  yard 
and  blocked  the  line  again.  When  we  got 
to  the  corner,  I  ran  like  a  real  whitehead 
for  the  bank — I  just  slowed  up  before  it 
was  a  question  of  colliding  with  a  'bus  or  a 
policeman. 

"  Ahead  of  me  was  a  little  old  fellow  in  a 
brown  coat,  who  walked  in  a  '  This-is-the- 
way-the-darkies-used-to-go '  fashion.  He 
skipped  across  the  street  and  ran  to  the  door 
of  the  bank;  I  looked  up,  and  what  do  you 
suppose  I  saw?  There  were  you  with  a 
'  Save-my-child '  expression  and  a  man  on 
either  side  of  you,  one  holding  you  by  the 
wrist  and  elbow,  and  up  stage  I  got  a  glimpse 
of  brass  buttons  and  a  uniform. 
90 


THE    VOICE    FROM    THE    PAST 

"  '  Pinched,'  said  I;  c  quick  exit  me! '  I 
side-stepped,  ducked,  and  who  do  you  sup- 
pose I  ran  into  but  Red,  and  there  stood  his 
cab !  I  was  going  in  through  the  window 
like  a  Hanlon  when  Red  yanks  the  side  en- 
trance open.  In  I  go  and  do  the  human 
snake,  with  the  blanket  in  the  corner! 

"  '  Cab's  engaged,'  says  Red,  cool  as 
could  be. 

"  '  I'm  waiting  for  the  lady  you  drove 
down,'  says  I,  thinking  somebody  might  be 
within  hearing  distance.  '  Stand  by  her,  Red, 
my  boy;  stand  by  her,  lad!  '  ' 

"  '  Ireland  still  has  brave  hearts  to  defend 
her  countrywomen !  '  I  know  the  rest  of 
that  line,  Sam;  cut  it  out  and  go  ahead  with 
your  story." 

Mrs.  Reeder  waved  her  hand  impatiently. 
Her  husband  drew  a  long  breath  and 
laughed. 

"Well,  I  looked  out  of  the  little  back 
window  and  there  I  saw  your  two  friends 
bowing  to  you  as  polite  as  possible,  and  one 
of  them  I  recognized  as  '  Mr.  Brown.'  " 

"  I  made  a  hit  with  your  friend  '  Mr. 
91 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

Brown,'  Sam — I'm  kind  of  sorry  you  inter- 
rupted us.  We  were  just  getting  acquainted. 
Say,  but  men  are  soft !  " 

"  Well,  if  he'd  known  who  you  were,  he'd 
have  made  a  hit  with  me  that  would  have 
landed  me  up  in  Massachusetts  somewhere. 
So,  when  I  saw  you  had  caught  on  to  our 
wigwag — for  in  the  meantime  I'd  informed 
Red  what  was  up — I  can  tell  you  I  felt  re- 
lieved; and  when  we  did  our  daring  dash 
for  freedom,  I  couldn't  tap  my  think-tank. 
But  there  you  have  it !  '  The  Voice  from 
the  Past '  was  Quinnie  White's,  king  of  them 
all,  Maisie,  king  of  them  all!  As  long  as 
he  is  the  business  manager,  the  ghost  has  a 
chance  to  walk." 

"  Well,  here's  the  hundred-dollar  check," 
said  the  woman,  producing  the  paper  from 
her  reticule.  "  He  walked  according  to 
promise  this  week!  Do  you  know,  Sam,  I 
think  they're  good,  even  if  Peters  does  sign 
them." 

"  Good  as  gold,"  said  her  husband.  "  Mr. 
'  Howard,'  Mr.  '  Peyton,'  Mr.  *  Leon  Gau- 
tier '  isn't  running  any  risks,  and  he's  keeping 
92 


THE    VOICE    FROM    THE    PAST 

tabs  on  friend  Peters.     You  see,  Pete  never 
was  pinched,  although " 

"Leon  Gautier!"  repeated  Mrs.  Reeder, 
unheeding;  "that  name  sounds  familiar  to 
me.  I'm  sure  I've  heard  it  somewhere." 

"  It's  the  name  that  Quinnie  White  took 
two  years  ago  in  Paris;  I  know  that  much." 

"He  wouldn't  use  it  over  here?"  asked 
the  woman.  "Would  he?" 

"Well,  hardly;  he  never  goes  into  two 
countries  under  the  same  name.  Here  he'd 
be  Mr.  *  Howard '  probably — he's  the  slick- 
est one  in  the  business,  and  knows  as  much 
about  printers'  ink  and  paper  as  Peters  does. 
Why,  that  man  speaks  eight  languages ! 
There's  one  question  I  want  to  ask  you, 
Maisie,  before  we  go  too  deep  on  Mr. 
White:  What  made  you  look  so  scared  as 
you  were  coming  out  of  the  bank  that 
time?" 

"  I  thought  I  had  'em  for  fair,"  said  the 
woman.  "  You  noticed  the  little  man  who 
just  entered?  " 

"  Yes,  the  little  old  fellow  with  the  funny 
walk!" 

93 


OUTSIDE     THE    L  A  W 

"  Did  you  see  his  face?  " 

"No!" 

"  Well,  you  go.  up  and  have  a  look  at  it 
to-night,  then  you'll  catch  on.  He'll  be 
there — you  can  see  him  through  the  window 
probably — he's  the  night  guardian." 

"  Where'll  I  meet  you  after  the  show?  " 

"At  the  house;  but  listen  to  me,"  said 
Mrs.  Reeder  suddenly.  "  I  think  I  can  ar- 
range something." 

"What?" 

"  For  you  to  meet  Monsieur  '  Leon 
Gautier.'  " 

"  You  are  an  exceedingly — but " 

"  Cut  it  out,  Sam,"  interrupted  Mrs. 
Reeder.  "  Did  you  see  a  tall,  black-bearded 
man  up  at  the  hotel  this  morning,  standing 
near  the  waiting-room  entrance?  " 

"  Yes." 

"Was  his  appearance  familiar?" 

"No;  'tis  fortunate  I'm  not  of  a  jealous 
temper.  He  seemed  to  display  some  interest 
in  you,  Maisie." 

"And  in  you,  too,  Sam;  while  you  were 
talking  to  me,  he  never  took  his  eyes  off  you. 
94 


THE    VOICE    FROM    THE    PAST 

He  was  stopping  at  that  hotel.  I  saw  him 
give  a  key  to  the  bellboy.  When  I  got  into 
Red's  cab,  he  was  on  the  sidewalk;  looking 
back  I  saw  him  enter  the  drug  shop  next  door. 
He  telephoned  you  from  there,  not  fifty  feet 
away !  " 

"  But,  Maisie,  Quinnie  White  had  light 
hair." 

"  You  said  his  eyes  were  dark,  though," 
said  the  woman,  "  and  there  are  such  things 
as  well-made  wigs."  She  pulled  at  a  little 
curling  lock  as  she  spoke.  "And  hair  dyes, 
too,"  she  added.  "  They  make  them  both  in 
France." 

"  But  Quinnie  White  had  a  broad,  up- 
tilted  nose." 

"  You  can  have  your  nose  changed  any 
shape  you  want  nowadays,"  said  Mrs. 
Reeder,  running  her  finger  down  her  own 
classic  profile.  "  Look  what  Dr.  Good- 
borough  did  for  me  after  my  accident." 

"  Quinnie  White  was  shorter  by  almost 
three  inches." 

"Well,  did  you  see  the  heels  he  wore? 
And  I  believe  nowadays  you  can  get  your 
95 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

spine  stretched,  too;   I   read   about  it   in  a 
Sunday  Herald" 

"Well  well  I"  exclaimed  Mr.  Reeder. 
"Say,  isn't  he  the  slick  one!" 

"  Don't  you  remember  saying  how  he 
could  read  what  people  said,  by  their  lips? 
He  saw  everything  you  said,  when  you 
whispered  to  me  in  the  waiting  room." 

Mr.  Reeder  jumped  to  his  feet.  Then 
he  stopped  irresolutely.  "  What  made  you 
think  his  name  was  Gautier?  "  he  asked. 

"  The  other  day  I  was  lunching  at  Mar- 
tin's and  he  came  in.  One  of  our  party  said 
he  was  sure  he  had  seen  him  in  Paris  and 
that  his  name  was  Leon  Gautier,  but  he 
wasn't  sure  enough  to  speak  to  him.  I  just 
happened  to  remember  the  occurrence — 
that's  all.  And  he  is  fine-looking!  " 

Mr.  Reeder  reached  down  his  hat  from 
the  hook,  and  placed  it  on  the  top  of  his 
snowy  head  with  a  melodramatic  flourish. 

"  Me  for  the  hotel,"  said  he. 

"  No  use  going  there ;  you  won't  find  him, 
Sam." 

"Why?" 

96 


THE    VOICE    FROM    THE    PAST 

"  Because  he's  left.  You  can  be  sure  of  it; 
he'll  look  us  up  this  time." 

"  What  do  you  think  he  was  doing 
there?" 

"  Watching  Mr.  Lorrimer,  the  same  as  we 
were — or,  maybe  he  was  watching  us.  I'll 
bet  we'll  hear  from  him  in  a  day  or  so.  I 
wouldn't  go  near  that  hotel  if  I  were  you. 
But  one  thing  don't  forget — go  up  and  have 
a  look  at  that  old  fellow  in  the  bank.  It 
will  amuse  you  sure.  Then  meet  me  at  the 
house  after  the  show,  as  I  said  before,  and 
I'll  have  something  to  tell  you  about  those 
plates.  Don't  let's  wait  for  Red — I've  got 
to  be  getting  down  to  the  theater!  " 

A  few  minutes  later  Reeder  had  helped 
his  wife  onto  a  down-town  car. 

It  was  one  o'clock  that  night  before  Mrs. 
Reeder  put  in  an  appearance  at  the  board- 
ing house.  When  she  came  in  her  eyes  were 
sparkling  and  her  cheeks  aglow  under  their 
smudge  of  rouge. 

"Had  a  good  time?"  asked  her  hus- 
band nonchalantly,  looking  up  from  the 
97 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

easy-chair  where  he  sat  reading  a  comic 
supplement. 

"  Yes,"  she  replied,  as  she  took  off  her 
large  picture  hat  and  pinned  it  to  the  back  of 
the  sofa  with  a  stab  of  an  ornate  hatpin. 
"  I've  had  a  very  pleasant  supper  with  a 
French  gentleman —  Has  Martha  gone  to 
bed?" 

"Yes;  but  don't  tell  me,"  cried  Mr. 
Reeder,  bouncing  upright  in  astonishment, 
"  don't  tell  me  that  you " 

"That's  just  what  I  was  going  to  say: 
that  I'd  just  had  supper  with  our  friend  Mr. 
Gautier.  That's  all!  I  thought  something 
would  happen,  Sam.  But  I  almost  fainted 
when  I  saw  him  sitting  there  in  the  box.  He 
sent  a  note  round  to  me  and  had  a  cab 
waiting  at  the  stage  entrance.  Seems  to  me 
I've  got  the  cab  habit  bad!  We  drove  up- 
town, looked  in  at  the  bank,  had  supper  to- 
gether over  on  the  West  Side,  and  he  just  left 
me  at  the  corner.  You  should  have  heard 
him  rave  about  those  plates.  Says  Brown's 
secret  process  is  the  best  ever — says  if  we 
ever  could  get  hold  of  'em  Brown  would 
98 


THE  VOICE  FROM  THE  PAST 

never  dare  peep —  Just  think!  Two  days 
more  and  we  would  have  been  shoving  'em 
out  in  the  country.  I  like  Mr.  Gautier — 
(Brr-r — but  it  is  growing  cold — light  the 
gas  stove,  Sam) — I  think  he's  a  perfect  gen- 
tleman, and  he  thinks  I " 

"Am  an  exceedingly  clever  woman!"  re- 
marked her  husband. 

Mrs.  Reeder  did  not  smile.  She  sat  down 
on  the  sofa  and  leaned  forward  eagerly,  em- 
phasizing her  words'  with  a  pointed  forefin- 
ger. "  Sam,"  she  said,  "  if  you've  got  sand 
enough  to  carry  through  a  scheme  of  ours 
and  nerve  enough  not  to  renege  at  the  last 
moment,  everything  may  come  our  way.  Did 
you  get  on  to  his  nibs  up  at  the  bank?  Funny 
I  happened  to  remember  his  name — '  Mars- 
ton.'  That  may  help." 

"  Yes;  I  see  what  you  mean  plain  as  day 
— but  when  am  I  going  to  meet  White?" 
asked  Mr.  Reeder  curtly. 

"At   the    proper    time,"    was    the    reply, 

"  he'll  meet  you.     That  will  be  all  arranged 

sooner  than  you  expect."    She  glanced  at  the 

clock.     "  You  and  Red  have  got  a  job  on 

99 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

your  hands — I'll  tell  you  about  that  later. 
Now  light  the  stove  and  get  me  a  cigarette." 
Leaning  back  on  the  sofa  and  blowing  a 
smoke  ring,  Mrs.  Reeder  continued:  "  You'll 
have  to  remember  one  thing — we've  got  a 
pretty  successful  combination  in  our  *  Voice 
from  the  Past,'  and " 

"And  an  exceedingly  clever  woman,"  said 
her  husband.  "  Don't  contradict  me.  But, 
nevertheless,  when  am  I  going  to  meet 
him?" 

"  Mr.  Gautier  will  be  up  here  in  this  room 
in  about  twenty  minutes,"  answered  Mrs. 
Reeder  quietly.  "  Now,  don't  get  excited." 

She  rose  and  went  to  the  window. 

Mr.  Fowler  and  Dr.  Higgins  were  just 
leaving  Lorrimer's  house. 

"  I  see  no  signs  of  hallucination,"  said  the 
doctor  quietly.  "  But  he  is  in  an  intensely 
nervous  condition,  which  was  increased,  no 
doubt,  by  his  suspicion  of  the  meaning  of  our 
late  stay;  the  next  few  days,  however,  may 
develop  some  well-defined  trouble." 

"  Yes,  the  next  few  days  may  prove  or  dis- 
100 


THE    VOICE    FROM    THE    PAST 

prove  some  things  of  great  importance," 
returned  Mr.  Fowler.  "  I  cannot,  just  now, 
tell  you  what  is  the  supposed  condition  of 
affairs.  I  may  later.  It  was  very  good  of 
you,  doctor,  to  join  our  little  impromptu 
theater  party — it  was  all  I  could  do  to  per- 
suade Mr.  Lorrimer  to  come.  We'd  had  a 
little  business  tiff  in  the  afternoon." 

"  Well,  I  suspect  that  we  both  felt  we  were 
there  in  more  or  less  of  a  professional 
capacity,"  smiled  the  specialist. 

"  No,"  replied  Fowler  quickly,  "  it  was 
entirely  from  a  friendly  feeling  on  my  part, 
though  I  confess  that  my  invitation  to  you 
read  more  or  less  like  a  summons.  Consider 
it  so,  if  you  like;  it  certainly  was  not  a  very 
jovial  occasion." 

"  No,  hardly  that.  I  hope  there  will  soon 
be  an  improvement  in  our  friend's  condition. 
Good  night  to  you.  .  .  .  We  are  going  to 
have  more  snow." 

"  Good  night —  Yes,  by  Jove,  it's  chilly. 
Oh,  by  the  way,  he's  to  come  to  my  office 
to-morrow  afternoon  to  talk  over  some  im- 
portant matters." 

101 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  Is  he?  Well,  make  a  note  of  his  gen- 
eral condition  and  appearance,  Fowler.  See 
if  you  can  see  any  enlargement  of  the  retina." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  think  it's  that,"  returned  the 
lawyer.  "  He  has  a  hatred  of  narcotics  and 
stimulants." 

"  You  never  can  tell,"  said  the  physician 
dubiously,  as  he  mounted  the  steps.  "  Good 
night  again." 

A  wild  gust  of  wind  swept  across  the  Park. 
Mr.  Fowler  hastened  his  home-going  foot- 
steps, drawing  his  coat  about  him  and  care- 
fully avoiding  the  danger  spots  in  the  now 
icy  pavement. 


102 


CHAPTER    VI 

UP-TOWN 

|T  was  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
when  the  storm  began.  It  burst 
upon  the  city  from  the  northwest 
with  the  sudden  flurries  of  hurtling,  icy  flakes 
soon  changing  to  whirling  clouds  that  hid  the 
tops  of  the  tall  buildings  and  eddied  furiously 
around  the  corners.  Before  daylight,  streets 
and  avenues  were  shoulder  high;  doorways 
were  half  hidden  in  upward-slanting  drifts. 
By  seven  o'clock  the  sidewalks  were  almost 
impassable,  the  surface  lines  were  blocked; 
what  few  pedestrians  there  were  stirring, 
scudded  and  tacked,  or  slowly  fought  their 
way  from  one  vantage  point  to  another.  The 
wind  was  blowing  nearly  sixty  miles  an  hour. 
Standing  at  the  window  of  a  little  flat  on 
the  third  story  of  a  small  West-Side  apart- 
ment house  was  a  young  girl.  She  anxiously 
103 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

scanned  the  street  below  and  nervously 
watched  the  entrance  of  the  Subway  station 
at  the  end  of  the  block.  She  could  see  the 
tottering,  wind-swept  figures  of  men  and 
women  reach  the  haven  of  its  shelter  and  dis- 
appear. From  the  depths  of  her  heart  she 
pitied  a  poor,  forlorn  horse  attached  to  a 
milk  wagon  that  was  now  sprawling  its  way 
over  the  slippery  asphalt,  and  then  plunging 
almost  breast-deep  through  the  barriers  of 
the  drifts. 

All  at  once  the  young  woman  started.  A 
slight  figure  in  a  brown  overcoat  had  ap- 
peared at  the  Subway  entrance.  A  little  old 
man,  one  hand  holding  on  his  soft,  black  felt 
hat,  the  other  grasped  tightly  at  his  throat, 
stepped  hesitatingly  out  into  the  storm.  He 
made  a  little  skipping  run  across  to  the  cor- 
ner, lost  his  balance,  caught  it  again  with 
difficulty,  and  then  tripping  at  last,  plunged 
headforemost  into  the  first  big  snow-bank. 
The  girl  uttered  a  cry  of  anguish;  but  the 
old  man  had  struggled  to  his  feet,  and  lean- 
ing well  forward,  faced  the  blast  again, 
edging  along  the  railings.  At  last,  with  a 
104 


VP-TO 


long,  indrawn  breath  of  relief  she  saw  him 
enter  the  doorway  below  her.  Quickly  she 
crossed  the  room  and  pressed  the  electric  but- 
ton that  set  the  latchet  clattering  its  welcome 
in  the  vestibule.  Then  she  stood  at  the  open 
door  expectantly. 

With  much  stamping  of  feet  and  puffing 
of  breath,  the  little,  gray-haired  man  at  last 
appeared  on  the  landing. 

"  Phe-ewl  "  he  said,  making  two  syllables 
of  the  exclamation,  as  he  slammed  his  soft 
hat  on  the  banister.  "  The  worst  storm 
since  Eighty-eight !  I  didn't  have  time  to  stop 
at  the  library  as  I  intended —  Too  bad !  " 

"  Come  in,  come  in,  father.  Don't  stay 
out  there,"  cried  the  girl.  "  Gracious,  what 
a  tumble  you  had!  " 

"Did  you  see  me,  Elsie?"  he  laughed. 
"Didn't  I  come  down!" 

"How's  your  cold,  dear?"  She  spoke 
lovingly  as  she  helped  him  remove  the  old 
brown  overcoat  and  untied  the  muffler  under 
his  chin. 

"  I  think  it's  better,  little  daughter,"  said 
the  old  gentleman,  speaking  very  hoarsely. 
8  105 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  But  I  think  it  will  be  still  improved  by  a 
cup  of  coffee." 

"  Here  it  is  for  you — and  steaming  hot," 
said  the  girl,  "  and  in  a  jiffy  some  eggs,  and 
toast,  and  cakes.  And  then  your  morning 
paper  to  put  you  to  sleep — and  you  must 
promise  me  not  to  stir  out  of  the  house  to- 
day. Why  don't  you  stay  in  and  finish  your 
chapter  on  the  Puranas?  " 

"  We'll  see,  we'll  see,"  responded  the  old 
gentleman  cheerfully.  "  We're  all  creatures 
of  habit,  and  this  night-watchman  busi- 
ness .  .  ." 

"Now,  please — please — !"  interrupting 
with  a  laugh,  as  she  pulled  up  the  easy-chair 
to  the  little  table  in  the  front  room.  "  I  al- 
ways think  of  you  as  president  and  board  of 
directors  and  angel  guardian." 

"  That's  it,"  said  the  old  fellow;  "  '  guar- 
dian ! '  I  believe  they  call  me  that." 

"I'm  sure  you're  quite  as  important  as 
anyone  connected  with  the  institution." 

"  Well,  I've  longer  hours  than  anyone," 
replied  her  father;  "  and  while  I'm  there  I'm 
monarch  of  all  I  survey.  Despite  my  work, 
106 


UP-TOWN 


it  does  get  a  bit  lonesome  sometimes,  and  the 
other  night,  my  dear,  I'm  almost  ashamed  to 
say,  I  dozed  for  twenty  minutes.  Gracious, 
I  wouldn't  like  to  have  them  hear  of  it. 
Sometimes,  you  know,  I  worry  about  my- 
self  " 

"  That  is  exactly  what  you  shouldn't  do," 
said  his  daughter.  "  Now,  when  you  finish 
your  breakfast,  off  to  bed  with  you."  She 
placed  her  hand  on  her  father's  forehead. 
"  Why,  you've  got  the  least  little  bit  of 
fever,"  she  went  on.  "  It's  good  I'm  going 
to  be  home  now,  so  I  can  take  care  of  you." 

"If  you  dare  come  into  my  room,  Elsie, 
with  that  little  cap  and  that  apron,  and  a 
thermometer  in  your  hand,  I  declare  I'll  go 
out  and  roll  in  the  snow." 

"  I  don't  know  about  the  thermometer," 
laughed  Miss  Marston,  "  but  I  think  the  cap 
and  the  apron  are  rather  becoming — I'm  not 
in  the  least  ashamed  of  them." 

"  Nor  am   I,  my   dear,"   replied  the  old 

gentleman  tenderly.     "  I  was  only  joking." 

He   tapped   his    daughter's   hand   playfully. 

Then   going   into   the   little   back  room   he 

107 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

closed  the  door  behind  him.  The  girl  cleaned 
up  the  dishes  and  sat  down  by  the  window 
with  her  work  basket. 

The  bell  of  the  flat  rang  shrilly  and  a 
whistle  faintly  sounded  from  below.  She 
rose  and  looked  out.  The  postman  was 
leaving  the  steps,  his  heavy  bag  held  by  both 
hands  swung  in  front  of  him,  his  shoulders 
hitched  high,  almost  to  his  ears.  Miss  Mars- 
ton  wished  she  lived  on  the  ground  flat  so 
that  she  could  have  asked  him  in  for  a  cup 
of  coffee.  Jumping  up,  she  hurried  down- 
stairs to  the  mail  box. 

The  only  letter  it  contained  was  addressed 
to  her — she  did  not  open  it  until  she  had 
once  more  climbed  the  stairs  to  the  front 
room.  The  contents  were  mysterious.  The 
first  thing  that  caught  her  eye  was  a  crisp, 
yellow  bank  bill  for  twenty  dollars.  It  took 
her  some  time  to  decipher  the  writing — the 
signature  she  almost  gave  up  in  despair.  But 
the  address  was  plain  enough,  and  the  sum- 
mons was  imperative — some  one  was  sick, 
and  she  had  been  recommended  by  Doctor — 
it  might  be  Headlinger,  it  might  be  Heide- 
108 


UP-TO 


kooper,  she  couldn't  make  it  out  clearly — but 
she  was  wanted  to  take  charge  of  a  case  in 
Brooklyn.  She  was  requested  not  to  fail  the 
writer.  The  inclosure  of  the  money  puzzled 
her;  there  was  no  reference  to  it  in  the  note. 

She  wondered  if  her  father  was  asleep. 
Going  to  the  door  of  the  back  room  she 
knocked  softly.  He  was  awake,  reading  by 
the  light  of  the  little  lamp  on  the  table  by 
his  bedside;  the  blinds  were  closely  drawn. 

"  It  may  have  been  slipped  in  by  mistake," 
said  Mr.  Marston,  after  vainly  trying  to 
decipher  parts  of  the  hasty  scrawl.  "  What 
are  you  going  to  do,  Elsie?  " 

"  I'm  going  to  return  it,"  said  the  girl. 
"  I  told  you  that  I  did  not  intend  to  leave 
you  to-day." 

"  It's  no  weather  for  you  to  venture  out, 
my  dear.  But  if " 

"  It  isn't  that,  father;  I'm  very  strong.  I 
could  go  there;  I  don't  want  to  leave  you. 
That  is  all." 

"  Elsie,"  said  the  old  man,  "  I'd  go,  if  I 
were  you — never  mind  me — the  note  says  it 
will  only  be  for  a  day  or  two,  doesn't  it? 
109 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

Mrs.  Hart  downstairs  can  get  me  my  meals, 
as  usual.  If  the  Bridge  cars  are  running, 
you  can  stop  at  the  very  door  of  this  place," 
he  added,  looking  at  the  address  again. 
"  They  seem  to  need  you  very  badly,  or  they 
would  not  have  sent  you  a  retaining  fee." 

"  Retaining  fees  are  not  customary  for 
trained  nurses,  but  my  curiosity  is  excited. 
Do  you  think  you  could  get  on  without  me, 
father?" 

"  Certainly,  my  dear;  go  by  all  means." 

"  I  will,  if  you  promise  not  to  go  down  to 
the  bank  this  evening." 

"All  right;  I  won't — if  I  don't  feel  better 
— I'll  telephone  from  the  shop  next  door. 
Now,  don't  you  worry — go  ahead." 

A  few  minutes  later  Miss  Marston  was 
seated  in  a  Subway  express  train  bound  for 
the  Bridge  entrance,  a  little  bag  on  her  knees, 
her  forehead  wrinkled  as  she  puzzled  again 
over  the  note  and  the  mysterious  inclosure. 

In  the  little  back  room  the  old  night  guar- 
dian had  fallen  fast  asleep. 


no 


Do  you  think  you  could  get  on  without  me,   father?" 


CHAPTER    VII 

DOWN-TOWN 

]  OWN-TOWN  some  business  offices 
were  practically  closed;  many  clerks 
and  employees,  who  lived  in  the 
near-by  towns  and  were  dependent  upon  the 
suburban  traffic,  had  not  yet  appeared  by  ten 
o'clock.  The  wires  were  down;  word  had 
come  that  many  trains  were  stalled,  and  on 
some  roads  the  railway  schedules  had  been 
suspended.  But  Daniel  Fowler,  thanks  to 
the  Underground,  reached  his  office  at  his 
customary  hour.  A  few  minutes  after  his  ar- 
rival a  card  was  handed  him.  As  he  read 
the  name  a  look  of  keen  interest  lit  his  face 
— he  smiled  an  anticipatory  smile. 

"Ah,  Mr.  Wilkins,"  he  cried  as  a  tall, 
good-looking  man  was  ushered  into  his  sanc- 
tum, "  the  storm  did  not  keep  you  from  your 
appointment." 

ill 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  Well,  I  wasn't  very  far  off,"  replied  the 
famous  head  of  the  Secret  Service.  "  I  some- 
times stop  at  the  Astor  House — interesting 
old  place,  and  rather  central  for  some  of 
my  interests — I  stayed  there  last  night.  .  .  . 
You  wished  to  see  me  on  important  business 
judging  from  your  message." 

"  Yes,  a  very  strange  case,  a  very  strange 
case,"  returned  Mr.  Fowler,  "  and  one  that 
will  hold  your  attention.  Sit  down — I  will 
go  over  a  few  of  the  main  points  before  the 
arrival  of  my  client,  Mr.  Lorrimer,  who  is 
vitally  concerned  in  the  matter." 

Mr.  Wilkins  seated  himself  in  the  big 
leather  chair  and  leaned  forward  expect- 
antly. In  a  few  minutes  Mr.  Fowler  had,  in 
his  concise,  legal  way,  told  and  reviewed  the 
strange  story  Lorrimer  had  related  to  him 
two  nights  before  at  the  restaurant. 

"  It  sounds  very  strange,"  was  the  detec- 
tive's comment  at  the  end  of  the  narrative, 
"  and  yet  it  may  be  of  the  utmost  importance. 
Have  you  seen  any  of  the  evidence  in  the 
case — the  plates,  for  instance?  " 

"  Not  yet,"  replied  Mr.  Fowler.  "  I 
112 


DOWN-TOWN 


understand  they  are  at  Mr.  Lorrimer's 
bank,  where  I  told  him  to  place  them  for 
safe-keeping.  I  saw  the  alleged  counterfeit 
bill." 

"  Have  you  it  with  you,  Mr.  Fowler?  " 

"  No;  my  client  was  to  bring  it  here  with 
him  this  morning.  I'm  expecting  him  every 
minute." 

"  Has  he  had  any  strange  acquaintances 
of  late;  have  his  habits  been  irregular?  " 

"  No;  he  is  more  or  less  of  a  misanthrope 
— a  recluse.  Very  sensitive  and  shy.  It 
would  be  very  painful  to  him  to  have  his 
name  connected  with  the  case.  I  can  see  his 
point,  too." 

"  Is  he  of — what  shall  I  say — of  an  imag- 
inative temperament?" 

The  lawyer  pondered  for  a  moment. 
"  Well,  just  at  present  I  should  say  he  was 
in  an  exceedingly  nervous  condition.  I  had 
my  friend,  Dr.  Higgins,  spend  some  time 
with  him  last  night.  By  the  way,  how  sud- 
denly this  storm  came  up,  didn't  it? — and 
he  perceived  that  Mr.  Lorrimer  was  laboring 
under  great  mental  excitement — I  forget  his 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

technical  name  for  it.  As  to  imagination — 
yes,  perhaps  he  is  somewhat  imaginative,  but 
you  see,  we  will  soon  have  proofs,  tangible 
proofs  to  go  by.  I  would  depend  more  upon 
them  than  upon  his  testimony;  in  fact,  I 
would  depend  upon  them  altogether  if  I  were 
you.  His  condition,  as  I  said " 

There  was  a  knock  at  the  door. 

"  Mr.  Paul  Lorrimer,"  announced  the 
young  law  clerk,  and  the  subject  of  the  dis- 
cussion entered  the  room. 

During  the  introduction  that  followed, 
Mr.  Wilkins  never  took  his  eyes  from  Mr. 
Lorrimer's  face.  He  noticed  that  that  gentle- 
man had  unbuttoned  his  gloves  and  carefully 
buttoned  them  again;  that  his  eyes  had  a 
sleepless,  half-frightened  expression,  and  his 
replies  to  the  commonplace  questions  and  re- 
marks on  the  weather  that  began  the  inter- 
view were  somewhat  short  and  breathless. 
He  refused  Mr.  Fowler's  offer  of  a  cigar  and 
immediately  afterwards,  when  the  other  two 
gentlemen  were  smoking,  drew  out  his  match 
safe  and  struck  a  match,  holding  the  wax 
vesta  still  lighted  in  his  fingers. 
114 


DOWN-TOWN 


Mr.  Fowler,  in  order  to  relieve  his 
embarrassment,  handed  him  a  cigar  as 
if  there  had  been  nothing  unusual  in  his 
actions. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  began  the  head 
of  the  Secret  Service,  launching  into  business 
at  last,  "  I  have  just  heard  part  of  this  very 
remarkable  story.  We  may  be  on  the  verge 
of  a  most  important  discovery  in  the  un- 
raveling of  which,  of  course,  a  great  deal 
depends  upon  you — the  assistance  that  you 
may  give  us  will  count  as  the  first  factor  in 
running  this  crime  to  earth.  Mr.  Fowler 
has  very  concisely  related  to  me  the  main 
incidents  as  you  have  told  them.  Now,  what 
you  must  show  me  is  all  the  evidence  you 
possess,  and  leave  the  rest  to  me  and  to  my 
agents.  We  will  not  bother  you  more  than 
is  necessary  and  your  name  will  not  have  to 
be  mentioned  publicly.  I  understand  that 
you  have  the  bill  which  you  found  in  the 
room  of  the  old  German  who  went  by 
the  name  of  Strauss,  or  Straub — the  bill 
that  you  found  in  the  wallet,  if  I  remember 
correctly." 


OUTSIDE     THE    L  A  W 

"  I  have  it  here,"  replied  Lorrimer,  put- 
ting down  his  cigar,  which  he  had  allowed 
to  go  out,  on  the  edge  of  the  desk.  "  But 
before  we  go  on,"  he  added,  "  there  is  some- 
thing else  I  want  to  show  you  first.  It  has 
worried  me  greatly." 

"  We  will  call  it  exhibit  '  A,'  "  said  the 
lawyer,  resting  his  hand  reassuringly  on  Lor- 
rimer's  shoulder  as  his  client  fumbled  in  the 
pocket  of  his  coat. 

The  large  pocketbook  appeared  wedged 
in  the  lining.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  the 
nervous  man  could  draw  it  forth.  From 
a  plain  white  envelope  addressed,  "  To  Mr. 
Lorrimer,"  in  a  round,  printed  hand,  he  took 
a  folded  illustration,  cut  from  one  of  the 
comic  papers. 

"  This  was  put  under  my  front  door  last 
night,"  said  he.  "  My  man  found  it  this 
morning." 

The  picture  showed  a  man  seated  at  a 
desk,  surrounded  by  four  rough-looking  char- 
acters, each  holding  a  pair  of  revolvers. 

Mr.  Fowler  put  on  his  glasses  and  read 
aloud  the  legend,  which  was  headed: 
1x6 


DOWN-TOWN 


"HANDY   REASONS." 

"Defaulting  Executor  (to  friends  of  late 
deceased)  :  What  reasons  can  you  show  me, 
gentlemen,  for  paying  you  any  of  this 
money?  " 

"Spokesman:  Forty-eight  good  reasons 
— six  in  each  hand.  Come,  fork  over !  " 

Mr.  Fowler  pushed  the  clipping  over  to 
Mr.  Wilkins,  who  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

"  Seems  like  a  threat  or  a  joke,"  he  said. 
"  But  now  let  us  see  the  counterfeit  bill." 

Lorrimer  flushed;  his  fingers  trembled  as 
he  took  out  the  crisp,  gold  certificate  and 
handed  it  to  the  head  of  the  Secret  Service. 

Mr.  Wilkins  snapped  it  smartly  between 
his  fingers,  as  a  man  might  test  the  quality 
and  strength  of  a  bit  of  silk.  Then  rising 
quickly,  he  walked  to  the  other  end  of  the 
room,  at  the  same  time  taking  a  magnifying 
glass  from  his  waistcoat  pocket.  He  stayed 
at  the  window  some  time,  turning  now  and 
then  so  as  to  get  a  better  light  and  focus. 
The  two  others  watched  him  expectantly — at 
117 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

last  he  appeared  to  be  satisfied.  He  closed 
the  glass  slowly,  as  if  gaining  time  to  think; 
then,  as  he  returned  to  the  desk,  he  caught 
Mr.  Fowler's  glance  and  lifted  his  eyebrows 
with  a  puzzled  expression.  There  was  an 
expectant  pause. 

"  It  is  a  perfectly  good  bill,  Mr.  Lorri- 
mer,"  said  Mr.  Wilkins  slowly  as  he  ex- 
tended the  certificate  held  in  the  palm  of  his 
hand,  "  and  worth  fifty  double  eagles  at  any 
subtreasury  in  the  country,  sir.  Any  na- 
tional bank  would  honor  it  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  you  have  labeled  it  as  spurious." 

"  Then,"  began  the  lawyer,  turning,  "  you 
may  possibly  have  been  mistaken." 

"  I  must  have  deposited  the  wrong  one," 
broke  in  Lorrimer  excitedly.  "  You  see, 
when  the  wind  blew  them  to  the  floor  I  may 
have  kept  my  eye  on  the  good  one." 

"  We  will  see  if  we  can  trace  the  other," 
said  the  detective  pleasantly;  "  but  all  that  is 
not  of  so  much  importance  at  the  moment. 
The  thing  for  us  to  do  is  to  go  now  to  your 
old  assistant's  apartments  and  look  over  the 
ground.  I  wired  for  Agent  Danielson  to 
118 


DO WN-TOWN 


come  on  to-day   from  Washington — I   sup- 
pose the  storm  delayed  him." 

Lorrimer  sat  there  looking  at  the  bill  in 
his  fingers  with  a  dazed  expression  on  his 
drawn,  white  face. 

"Why,  why — "  he  stammered;  "then  I 
passed  a  bad  bill  at  the  bank." 

"  Oh,  maybe  not,"  replied  Mr.  Wilkins 
reassuringly;  "the  other  one  may  have  been 
good  also — at  all  events  you  have  here  one 
thousand  dollars  to  take  it  up  with — but  we'll 
see,  we'll  see.  How  long  will  it  take  us  to 
get  up  to  the  place  where  old  Strauss  had  his 
studio?  Too  bad  you  ever  got  mixed  up  in 
the  affair.  But  we  must  have  something  to 
go  by." 

"About  half  an  hour,  I  should  think," 
blurted  Lorrimer  hotly.  "  There's  proof 
enough  there  to  convince  you." 

"  You  haven't  forgotten  the  keys,"  sug- 
gested Mr.  Fowler,  somewhat  anxiously. 

"  No ;  I've  got  them  in  my  pocket — what 
do  you  suppose  I'd  do  with  them?"  This 
time  his  client's  voice  rang  with  anger  and 
irritation. 

119 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  Then  I  move  we  get  up  there  as  soon  as 
possible.  We  can  go  to  the  bank  after- 
wards," said  Mr.  Wilkins,  picking  up  his  hat 
and  tossing  himself  into  his  heavy,  fur-lined 
coat. 


120 


CHAPTER    VIII 

A    DOUBTING   THOMAS 

[HEN  the  three  gentlemen  reached  the 
East-Side  apartment  house,  Mr.  Mc- 
Guire,  the  janitor,  from  the  vantage 
point  of  the  top  step,  was  scolding  a  circle  of 
children  who  stood  knee-deep  in  the  snow 
below  him  on  the  sidewalk.  The  fact  that 
Mr.  McGuire  held  a  broom  in  his  hand  and 
that  snowbciils  decorated  the  balustrade  and 
the  doorposts  sufficiently  explained  his  evi- 
dent ill  temper.  He  interrupted  his  discourse 
when  he  saw  the  party  of  three  turn  toward 
him  and  mount  the  steps. 

"  I'm  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  began  the  leader, 
"  I — I  mean  Mr.  Brown,  Mr.  Straub's — I 
mean  Mr.  Strauss's. employer." 

"  Oh,  th'  old  Dutchman,  is  it,  on  the  top 
flure.     You  were  here  of  a  Sunday,  so  me 
little  boy  was  tellin'  me.     You  had  the  keys 
to  the  room,  I  believe,  sor." 
9  121 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  I  have  them  now,"  rejoined  Lorrimer, 
continuing,  and  interrupting  Mr.  Wilkins, 
who  was  about  to  speak.  "  We're  all  friends 
of  his  and  we'd  like  to  go  up  there  to — to 
look  around  a  little — it's  all  right,  all  regular 
— we're  friends — understand?  Has  anybody 
— I  mean  do  you  know  of  anyone  who  might 
have  been — I  mean  of  anybody  in  the  neigh- 
borhood who — er ?  " 

"  Has  anyone  been  here  since  Mr.  Brown's 
last  visit?  "  asked  Mr.  Wilkins  pleasantly, 
turning  to  the  janitor  and  continuing  the 
question. 

"  No,  sor — sure  Mr.  Brown  \vas  the  only 
caller  he  ever  had,  dead  or  alive.  Oh,  such 
a  bother  I've  had  wid  the  childer !  When  it's 
not  marking  up  the  place  with  chalk,  it's 
throwing  banana  peels  on  the  shteps  or  up- 
setting the  ash  barrels  in  the  area,  and  what 
wid  the  shnow  to  clean  off — me  heart's 
broke!" 

He  opened  the  door,  still  grumbling,  and 
ushered  the  little  party  into  the  close-smelling 
hallway. 

"  Top  flure,"  said  he,  with  an  upward 
122 


A     DOUBTING     THOMAS 

wave  of  the  hand.  "  Shall  I  go  wid 
ye's?" 

"  No,  never  mind,"  said  the  Secret  Service 
man,  who  had  apparently  appointed  himself 
spokesman;  "we'll  see  you  when  we  come 
down,  Mr? " 

"  McGuire,"  answered  the  janitor.  "  I've 
lived  in  the  ward  this  forty  year  and  some- 
times I  wish  to  God  I  was  out  of  ut.  The 
brats  is  gettin'  worse  an'  worse  ivry  day  for 
all  the  edication — Reform  Administrations! 
It's  reform  schools  we're  after  needin' — it's 
the  rod  that's  the  best  teacher — sure,  if  we 
had  a  dacent  government " 

He  was  about  to  launch  forth  on  a  long 
tirade  against  juvenile  crime  and  political 
shortcomings,  but  his  audience  by  this  time 
was  a  third  of  the  way  up  the  first  flight  of 
stairs.  Here  they  were  halted  by  a  shouted 
question  from  below. 

"And  what  am  I  to  do  with  the  burds  on 
the  roof?  "  cried  Mr.  McGuire.  "  I've  been 
feeding  them  for  the  past  four  days,  but  it 
costs  money,  and  th'  corn  is  out." 

"  We'll  see  you  about  that  when  we  come 
123 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

down,  Mr.  McGuire,"  returned  Chief  Wil- 
kins  over  the  banister.  ..."  What 
does  he  mean  by  *  burds,'  Mr.  Lorrimer?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  Lorrimer  replied.  "  I 
saw  no  birds  when  I  was  up  here  before,  but 
there  is  a  ladder  just  outside  the  door  that 
leads  to  a  scuttle  in  the  roof." 

"Ah,  here  we  are,"  panted  Mr.  Fowler, 
as  they  gained  the  head  of  the  last  flight 
of  stairs,  "  and  there  is  the  ladder !  Now, 
which  door  is  it?  " 

Lorrimer,  out  of  breath  from  the  climb 
and  the  excitement  that  now  had  hold  of 
him,  was  fumbling  with  the  bunch  of  keys 
he  had  found  in  old  Straub's  pocket  when  he 
had  searched  his  dead  body  in  the  studio. 
He  picked  out  one  and  inserted  it  in  the  key- 
hole. The  door  apparently  would  not  open. 

"  You're  turning  it  the  wrong  way,  Mr. 
Lorrimer,"  observed  Mr.  Wilkins  quietly; 
"  here,  let  me." 

In  an  instant  the  door  stood  open.  The 
detective  entered  first. 

"  This  is  the  closet  from  which  leads  the 
secret  entrance,"  whispered  Lorrimer  in 
124 


A    DOUBTING    THOMAS 

trembling  eagerness.  "  Ah,  here's  the  key. 
.  .  .  Now,  gentlemen,  if  you've  had  any 
doubt  in  your  minds.  .  .  ." 

"  Just  wait  a  minute,  please,"  rejoined 
Wilkins,  "  and  close  the  door  behind  us  into 
the  hallway.  I  want  to  look  about  a  little 
here  first.  You've  examined  this  bureau?" 

"  There's  nothing  there  but  old  clothes," 
Lorrimer  replied  with  a  show  of  irritation. 
"  But  in  that  tobacco  jar,  underneath  the 
tobacco,  you  will  find  a  revolver.  I  meant  to 
have  taken  it  when  I  was  last  here,  but  I 
forgot  all  about  it." 

Apparently  Mr.  Wilkins  had  paid  no  at- 
tention to  this  bit  of  information.  He  was 
feeling  around  the  surbase  and  tapping  the 
floor  with  the  toe  of  his  boot  where  he  lifted 
the  carpet.  Apparently  everything  was  as  it 
should  be.  The  bureau  drawer  he  turned 
upside  down  on  the  bed  and  shook  out  each 
cheap  garment  separately.  There  was  noth- 
ing in  the  least  suspicious  about  them.  Old 
Strauss  had  evidently  done  his  own  mending. 
At  last  Mr.  Wilkins  turned  his  attention  to 
the  tobacco  jar,  and  running  his  fingers  deep 
125 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

down  into  the  brown,  snuffy  mass,  brought 
forth  an  ivory-handled  six-shooter.  He  ex- 
amined it  closely. 

"  Ever  seen  one  like  this  before,  Mr.  Lor- 
rimer?  "  he  asked,  after  a  pause. 

"  One  pistol  is  very  much  like  another,  I 
suppose — I  don't  know  anything  about 
them,"  was  that  gentleman's  retort. 
«  Now " 

"  I  mean  this  one  especially  that  I  hold  in 
my  hand." 

"  I  didn't  look  at  it  as  carefully  as  you 
have,  sir — but  why?  " 

"  The  only  reason  I  ask,"  said  the  detec- 
tive, "  is  the  fact  that  it  has  your  initials  on 
it—'  P.  L.,'  I  believe." 

"The  old  villain!"  exclaimed  Lorrimer. 
"  The  hoary-headed  old 1  " 

He  stopped  as  if  at  a  loss  for  expressions 
to  voice  his  feelings.  Mr.  Wilkins  was  look- 
ing at  him  with  a  smile  lurking  in  the  corners 
of  his  mouth. 

"  He  must  have  got  it  from  the  top  drawer 
of  the  old  cabinet  in  my  library,"  Lorrimer 
concluded  weakly.  "  Now  I  remember — 
126 


A     DOUBTING     THOMAS 

there  were  two  of  them  given  me  some 
years  ago — the  fact  had  slipped  my  mind 
entirely." 

"  Well,  now  for  the  secret  door,  gentle- 
men," said  the  detective  with  a  long  breath 
and  something  in  his  tone  akin  to  conde- 
scension. 

Mr.  Fowler  was  looking  on  with  a  semi- 
apologetic  and  semifoolish  smile.  All  at 
once  he  flashed  a  curious  glance  in  Lorri- 
mer's  direction.  How  was  it  going  to  end? 
Would  his  client's  strange  revelation  and  the 
remarkable  mystery  finish  in  nothing  at  all 
but  a  string  of  fortuitous  incidents,  or  prove 
to  be  the  self-incubated,  badly  hatched  freak 
of  a  disordered  intellect?  Or  might  affairs 
take  a  new  and  sudden  turn  ? 

As  he  entered  the  closet,  Mr.  Wilkins 
caught  the  lawyer's  arm  and  gave  it  a  slow 
pinch  of  understanding.  Lorrimer  had  found 
the  flat  key  without  trouble.  He  pulled  the 
little  door  open,  and  with  a  "  just-wait-and- 
you-see  "  air  stepped  into  the  black  opening. 
As  the  two  others  followed,  the  lawyer  was 
tempted  to  give  Mr.  Wilkins  a  responsive 
127 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

nudge,  but  in  justice  to  his  old  friend  he  re- 
frained. Perhaps  the  developments  would 
now  prove  more  convincing;  perhaps  some 
startling  evidence  might  be  forthcoming. 

As  if  he  had  been  there  a  hundred  times, 
Lorrimer's  hand  had  found  the  gas  jet; 
an  instant  later,  he  had  applied  a  match, 
and  there  was  a  burst  of  brilliant,  roaring 
flame. 

The  room  and  its  contents,  as  they  stood 
suddenly  revealed,  produced  no  little  aston- 
ishment. Lorrimer  noticed  this  with  an  air 
of  triumph. 

"Look!"  he  cried  eagerly.  "See,  a 
photo-engraving  camera,  exactly  like  my 
own!  Notice  those  acid  trays  on  the  table 
there,  with  the  rockers — my  own  invention! 
And  the  press,  in  the  sand  box  in  order  to 
take  up  the  sound  and  jar." 

"  Is  that  your  invention,  too,  Mr.  Lorri- 
mer? "  asked  the  Chief,  with  a  show  of  great 
interest. 

"  I  used  to  use  it,  but  now  I  have  brick 
pillars  built  up  from  the  cellar,  and  a  con- 
crete flooring." 

128 


A    DOUBTING    THOMAS 

"  They  would  be  rather  hard  to  put  in  the 
top  story  of  an  apartment  house,"  interposed 
Mr.  Fowler. 

"  We  often  have  to  adapt  ourselves  to  cir- 
cumstances," rejoined  Mr.  Wilkins.  "  But, 
now  let's  have  a  look  around  again,  slowly, 
and  investigate  everything  thoroughly." 

"Hold  on!"  said  Lorrimer.  "Before 
you  do  anything  I  want  you  to  look  at  this 
plate;  it's  a  copy  of  a  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  a 
mezzotint  engraved  by  Thomas  Mote." 

"  Apparently  a  very  good  one,"  smiled  Mr. 
Wilkins. 

"  It  ought  to  be — I  made  it  myself,  sir," 
was  the  reply.  "  And  I  told  old  Straub  to 
destroy  it.  I  supposed  until  the  other  day 
that  he  had  done  so.  But  look  what  prob- 
ably has  happened.  He  has  erased  my 
private  mark  and  no  doubt  has  pulled  half 
a  hundred  copies  of  them — the  villain  I 
They'd  bring  good  prices  in  any  market  as 
originals — eh,  Fowler?" 

"  Well,  that's  a  private  matter  between  you 
and  a  dead  man,  Mr.  Lorrimer.  I  don't  see 
where  the  Government  could  interfere,"  put 
129 


OUTSIDE     THE    L  A  W 

in  Mr.  Wilkins  good-humoredly.  "  Now 
we'll  go  on." 

For  the  next  ten  minutes  all  three  were  care- 
fully engaged  in  ransacking  the  apartment. 
Every  drawer,  every  nook,  every  cranny,  was 
explored;  but  not  a  scrap  of  the  much-talked- 
about  green  paper,  not  a  proof  of  the  incrim- 
inating evidence  was  discovered. 

The  Chief,  despite  an  assumption  of  inter- 
est and  politeness,  waxed  a  little  sarcastic  as 
the  search  proceeded.  Mr.  Fowler  wore  an 
irritated  and,  if  the  truth  be  told,  a  somewhat 
shamefaced  expression.  As  for  the  unfor- 
tunate cause  of  all  the  strange  doings,  his 
manner  had  changed  from  excited,  chattering 
nervousness  to  sullen  silence. 

"  I  don't  see  what  more  we  can  investi- 
gate," said  the  Chief,  as  for  the  second  time 
he  had  rolled  back  the  carpet  and  followed 
the  cracks  in  the  flooring  with  his  penknife. 
"  The  old  gentleman  evidently  didn't  wish  to 
be  disturbed  in  whatever  he  was  doing — 
which,  by  the  way,  he  appeared  to  know  a 
good  deal  about.  We'll  have  to  depend  upon 
something  else — there's  nothing  here  to  help 
130 


A    DOUBTING    THOMAS 

us!  Let's  go  to  the  roof  and  see  what  we 
can  find — we'll  ascertain  what  Mr.  McGuire 
meant  by  the  *  burds.'  By  the  way,"  he 
added,  "  I  keep  a  little  collection  of  memen- 
tos of  celebrated  cases — perhaps  Mr.  Lor- 
rimer  wouldn't  object  to  letting  me  add  this 
revolver  to  it." 

"  Keep  it,  by  all  means,"  growled  its 
former  owner.  "  You  can  do  what  you  like 
with  it." 

For  the  last  few  minutes  the  ground 
seemed  to  be  slipping  away  from  beneath  his 
feet.  He  had  had  the  uncertain,  dizzy  feel- 
ing of  a  person  emerging  from  some  anes- 
thetic— the  wonder  if  what  had  actually  hap- 
pened was  real  or  unreal.  But  he  did  not  yet 
perceive  clearly  the  thoughts,  or,  better,  the 
suspicions,  of  his  companions.  Strange  to 
say,  he  grew  calmer.  His  pitiful  nervousness 
was  succeeded  by  a  keen  desire  to  justify  his 
actions — wait  till  they  saw  the  plates!  He 
longed  to  lay  before  them  the  positive  proofs 
now  safe  in  Mr.  Remson's  desk  at  the  bank. 
He  could  bide  his  time,  till  then,  in  patience. 

They  left  the  workshop,  passed  through 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

the  little  bedroom  and  out  into  the  hall. 
The  scuttle  at  the  top  of  the  ladder  was 
closed  with  a  rusty  hasp. 

"  Look  out !  There  may  be  a  lot  of  snow 
come  down,"  cried  Mr.  Wilkins  before  he 
started  to  push  the  scuttle  upward. 

But,  odd  to  relate,  it  lifted  easily  and 
opened  into  a  little  penthouse  roughly  built 
of  lath  and  tar  paper.  On  either  side,  under 
the  low  roof,  were  coops  and  boxes,  faced 
with  wire  netting,  inside  of  which  were  half 
a  score  or  more  of  somewhat  bedraggled 
pigeons. 

"  Carrier  pigeons !  Here's  a  clew !  "  whis- 
pered the  lawyer,  almost  with  an  accent  of 
relief. 

The  detective  looked  down  at  him. 

"  The  only  thing  they'd  ever  carry  to  the 
roof  would  be  what  they'd  happen  to  pick 
up  in  the  street !  "  said  he. 

Lorrimer  had  waited  at  the  foot  of  the 
ladder.  The  detective  found  a  chance  at  last 
to  murmur  something  in  Mr.  Fowler's  ear. 

"  I  can't  make  head  or  tail  of  it,"  he  said, 
shrugging  his  shoulders.  "  I'm  afraid  you'll 
132 


Look  out  !    There  may  be  a  lot  of  snow  come  down  !  " 


A    DOUBTING    THOMAS 

have  to  call  in  another  kind  of  a  specialist. 
Has  your  friend  been  addicted  to  reading 
detective  stories  in  the  magazines?  Is  he  a 
devotee  at  the  shrine  of  Mr.  Sherlock 
Holmes?" 

"  I  don't  think  so.  But  we  won't  make  up 
our  minds  till  we  see  what  he  has  down  at  the 
bank,"  returned  Fowler  beneath  his  breath. 
"  In  the  meantime  he  might  interview  the 
janitor,  and  the  old  woman  on  the  floor  be- 
low, whom  I  told  you  Mr.  Lorrimer  had 
wisely  put  on  watch." 

As  they  turned  to  descend,  they  found  Mc- 
Guire  waiting  beside  Lorrimer  at  the  foot  of 
the  ladder. 

"  Sure,  I  was  telling  Mr.  Brown  that  the 
burds  ain't  worth  letting  loose — sure  they're 
hardly  worth  neck-wringin',  for  that  matter. 
What'llI  dowid'em?" 

"  I  should  suggest  a  little  more  food  and 
then  a  potpie,"  said  the  detective.  "  But, 
by  the  way,  Mr.  McGuire,  did  you  know  any- 
thing of  a  little  door  connecting  Mr.  Strauss's 
room  with  the  next  apartment?  " 

"  Sure,  'twas  I  helped  build  ut,"  was  the 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

reply.  "  It  was  the  consate  for  the  former 
tenant,  an  artist  he  called  himself.  He  died, 
some  one  was  tellin'  me,  out  West  somewhere, 
two  years  ago.  When  the  old  Dutchman 
moved  in  wid  all  his  claptrap  he  got  the  key 
of  the  dhure  from  the  agent." 

"  I  think  we'd  better  go  down  to  the  bank," 
said  Mr.  Wilkins  shortly.  "  There's  nothing 
more  for  me  to  look  into  here."  Then  he 
added  in  Mr.  Fowler's  ear:  "  It  is  a  strange 
case,  just  as  you  said." 

"  I  move  we  get  some  luncheon  first  before 
we  go  down-town,"  suggested  Mr.  Fowler. 
"  I'm  hungry  and  we  can  telephone  to  Mr. 
Remson  so  we  may  be  sure  he  will  be  in." 

"  What  am  I  to  do  with  the  things  in  the 
rooms?  "  asked  Mr.  McGuire.  "  The  rint's 
paid  till  the  first  of  next  month." 

"  Keep  them  until  you  hear  from  us,"  re- 
turned Mr.  Fowler  at  a  whisper  from  Mr. 
Wilkins,  "  and  if  anyone  calls  let  us  know. 
Here's  my  card." 

Lorrimer  had  again  lapsed  into  silence; 
his  nervousness  had  returned. 

"  We  might  as  well  go  to  the  club,  I  sup- 
134 


A     DOUBTING     THOMAS 

pose,"  the  lawyer  suggested.     "  It's  about  as 
near  as  any  place  else." 

"  You'll  be  my  guests,"  returned  Lorri- 
mer  curtly.  "  That  I  insist  on." 

There  was  a  feeling  of  constraint  very 
evident  between  the  members  of  the  little 
party  as  they  fought  their  way  westward 
through  the  streets  still  laden  with  the  heavy 
drifts. 

The  first  thing  Mr.  Lorrimer  did  upon 
reaching  the  clubhouse  was  to  excuse  himself 
to  the  others  and  enter  the  telephone  booth. 
He  emerged  a  minute  later  with  a  sickly  smile 
on  his  white  face. 

"  We've  got  to  postpone  it,  gentlemen," 
he  said.  "  Mr.  Remson  has  not  been  at  his 
desk  all  day.  Please  sit  down  while  I  go  and 
order  the  luncheon." 

"  Delayed  by  the  storm,  I  take  it,"  said 
Mr.  Fowler,  as  Lorrimer  turned  and  left 
them. 

"  Heigho,"  yawned  the  detective,  stretch- 
ing his  arms. 

"  I  don't  look  forward  to  this  luncheon 
with  very  much  pleasure,"  said  the  lawyer. 
135 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

"  Nor  I  either,"  replied  Mr.  Wilkins;  "  but 
I  don't  think  I  have  lost  my  appetite." 

It  was  a  strange  and  uncomfortable  meal. 
The  host  of  the  occasion  was  distrait  and 
ill  at  ease.  Mr.  Fowler  did  his  best  to  en- 
list his  interest  and  distract  his  attention  by 
reciting  the  inner  history  of  a  celebrated  law- 
suit then  pending  in  the  courts,  and  Mr.  Wil- 
kins detailed  the  train  of  events  that  led  up 
to  the  capture  of  the  Harvey  gang  of  coiners 
some  years  before  in  Chicago.  But  Mr.  Lor- 
rimer  failed  to  display  any  great  concern  in 
the  conversation.  When  at  last  the  party 
broke  up  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  all 
meet  at  the  bank  at  half-past  nine  the  follow- 
ing morning. 

At  the  usual  hour  on  this  very  afternoon 
when  the  day  watchman  should  turn  over  his 
charge  of  the  institution  to  the  night  guard- 
ian, there  was  some  doubt  as  to  whether  the 
latter  would  put  in  an  appearance;  but,  on 
time  to  the  minute,  the  little  figure  in  the 
brown  overcoat  crossed  the  street  with  his 
quick,  birdlike  step,  and  the  day  watchman 
let  him  in  through  the  heavy  doors.  The  old 
136 


A     DOUBTING     THOMAS 

man  had  evidently  disobeyed  his  daughter's 
injunctions — when  certainly  from  all  appear- 
ances he  should  have  heeded  them.  His  eyes 
were  red  and  his  throat  muffled  in  a  bit  of  red 
flannel — his  replies  to  the  day  watchman's 
greetings  were  given  in  a  throaty  whisper — 
the  doctor  had  forbidden  him  to  talk,  he  ex- 
plained shortly  in  a  few  hoarse  words,  other- 
wise he  was  better — "  much  better."  Trot- 
ting over  to  the  cloakroom  he  hung  up  his 
overcoat  and  black  slouch  hat.  Then  he 
walked  into  the  back  apartment,  where  the 
electric  lamp  blazed  perpetually  under  its 
green  shade,  and,  putting  on  his  little  skull- 
cap, opened  the  afternoon  paper.  No  one  dis- 
turbed him.  One  after  another  the  clerks 
wished  him  good  evening  as  they  left,  and  at 
last  the  watchman  locked  the  outside  doors 
and  had  the  bank  all  to  himself. 

For  a  long  time  the  old  guardian  sat  there 
reading  in  the  same  position.  Then  he  put 
down  his  paper,  and,  slowly  rising  from  his 
seat,  strolled  into  the  outer  office  that  fronted 
on  the  avenue.  The  policeman  who  pa- 
trolled the  beat  as  he  went  by  the  corner  saw 
10  137 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

him  standing  there  looking  out  of  the  win- 
dow at  the  long  line  of  carriages  across  the 
way.  The  officer  waved  him  a  kindly  salute, 
to  which  the  old  man  replied  with  a  pleasant 
nod  of  his  head.  When  the  policeman  had 
gone  up  the  avenue  the  night  guardian  began 
a  slow  pacing  up  and  down  the  corridor. 
From  time  to  time  he  entered  the  front  office, 
where,  bending  over  a  desk,  he  would  arrange 
the  papers,  or,  stooping,  straighten  a  waste- 
paper  basket. 

Shortly  after  midnight,  when  the  police- 
man had  passed  for  the  third  or  fourth  time 
on  his  rounds,  Mr.  Marston  opened  the  in- 
side glass  doors  of  the  vestibule — a  strange 
thing  to  do  on  a  winter's  night.  Perhaps  the 
old  guardian  was  feeling  a  slight  return  of 
the  fever,  or  maybe  it  had  grown  very  warm 
inside  the  bank.  At  all  events,  he  stood  there 
a  moment,  and  just  as  a  tall  man  in  a  long 
overcoat  crossed  the  street  from  the  cafe  he 
bent  down  and  straightened  the  rubber  mat- 
ting; then  hastily  he  closed  the  glass  doors 
inside  the  heavy  iron  grill.  The  man  in  the 
long  overcoat,  who  was  carrying  a  bundle  of 
138 


A     DOUBTING     THOMAS 

newspapers  held  flat  under  his  arm,  turned 
suddenly  when  opposite  the  entrance,  and, 
approaching  the  grill,  lifted  his  foot  against 
the  lower  failing  as  if  to  retie  his  shoe  laces. 
As  he  did  so  he  put  down  the  bundle  he  car- 
ried inside  the  opening  of  the  vestibule.  An- 
other moment  he  had  picked  up  his  papers 
again  and  gone  on  up  the  avenue.  He  must 
have  noticed  that  his  actions  were  observed 
by  the  old  guardian,  for  the  latter,  standing 
just  back  of  the  closed  doors,  had  nodded  to 
him  pleasantly,  in  the  same  way  he  had  nodded 
to  the  big  policeman. 


139 


CHAPTER    IX 

AT   THE    BANK 

did  not  sleep  late  the 
next  morning.  He  awoke,  strange 
to  say,  refreshed  and  eager  to  meet 
the  situation.  He  had  the  exalted  feeling  of  a 
strong  man  with  an  exciting  day  before  him. 
The  mystery  of  the  affair,  instead  of  puzzling 
him,  lent  a  vivid  interest  to  his  life;  the  im- 
mediate worry  was  dispelled  by  the  mere  fact 
that  he  now  had  a  purpose — that  of  convin- 
cing Fowler  and  Wilkins,  who,  he  saw  at  last, 
were  skeptical  as  to  the  existence  of  any 
evidence  of  attempted  crime.  His  fear  of 
the  consequences  of  his  own  apparent  con- 
nection with  the  plot  or  the  plotters  dwindled 
entirely.  He  was  not  placed  on  the  defen- 
sive; he  had  only  to  show  proof  of  his  as- 
sertions, and  that  proof  he  would  lay  before 
the  head  of  the  Secret  Service  before  ten 
o'clock  that  morning.  He  had  told  all  that 
140 


AT    THE    BANK 


he  knew — nothing  had  been  held  back. 
With  a  feeling  of  satisfaction,  he  assured 
himself  that  he  could  turn  his  case  over  to 
the  representatives  of  the  Government,  and 
leave  the  rest  to  them.  As  he  reviewed  the 
happenings  of  the  day  before,  he  remembered 
with  relief  the  small  importance  attached  by 
Mr.  Wilkins  to  the  fact  that  he  had  unwit- 
tingly passed  a  counterfeit  bill. 

A  night  of  continuous  and  unbroken  slum- 
ber is  a  great  factor  in  the  reorganization  of 
disordered  faculties.  As  Lorrimer  looked  at 
himself  in  the  glass,  he  perceived  an  entirely 
different  face  from  that  reflected  there  for 
the  past  five  days;  and  the  best  sign  of 
all,  he  was  hungry!  If  Dr.  Higgins  could 
have  seen  the  breakfast  he  ordered  at  the 
club  that  morning,  and  the  manner  in  which 
he  stowed  it  away,  he  would  have  had  no 
fear  of  any  serious  nervous  breakdown.  As 
Lorrimer  ate  he  planned  ahead  without 
counting  in  his  troubles  at  all.  His  luggage 
had  gone  by  the  Campania  the  previous  week, 
but  that  was  of  no  consequence ;  as  soon  as  he 
finished  his  meal  he  cabled  the  office  at  Liv- 
141 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

erpool  that  he  would  follow  by  the  Lucanla 
— the  next  outgoing  steamer.  By  half-past 
eight  he  had  called  a  cab  and  was  on  his  way 
to  the  bank. 

Before  he  had  reached  the  corner,  however, 
he  suddenly  remembered  that  there  was 
something  else  it  might  be  as  well  to  prove — 
that  was  the  care  which  he  had  always  ex- 
ercised in  producing  his  facsimiles,  and  the 
wrong  done  him  by  old  Straub's  betrayal  of 
his  trust.  He  would  bring  down  to  the  bank 
some  samples  of  his  own  printing  and  some 
that  no  doubt  had  emanated  from  the  work- 
shop of  his  assistant.  Telling  the  driver  to 
turn  up-town,  he  stopped  at  his  own  house 
and  entered  hurriedly.  Rushing  back  to  the 
studio  he  packed  some  hastily  selected  prints 
into  a  portfolio  and  was  soon  on  his  way 
down  the  avenue  again,  reading  the  morning 
paper. 

The  day  watchman  in  the  brass-buttoned 
uniform  gave  him  a  semimilitary  salute  as 
he  opened  the  door. 

"  No,  sir,  Mr.  Remson  hasn't  appeared 
yet,  sir,"  he  replied  to  Lorrimer's  question. 
142 


AT    THE    BANK 


"  But  he  will  be  here.  The  cashier  was  just 
saying  that  he  would  probably  stop  on  his 
way  up-town — we're  expecting  him  every 
minute,  sir." 

"  Thanks,  I'll  wait,"  said  Lorrimer,  as  the 
watchman  opened  the  little  wicket  and 
ushered  him  into  the  front  office.  "  Some 
gentlemen  are  to  meet  me  here  this  morning." 

One  of  the  clerks,  scribbling  on  a  little  pad 
as  he  approached,  came  down  the  corridor. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  said  he,  "  a  mes- 
sage for  you!  Mr.  Fowler  has  just  tele- 
phoned that  he  would  be  here  at  half-past 
nine  with  a  Mr.  *  Wilson  ' — was  that  the 
name?" 

"  Wilkins,"  suggested  Mr.  Lorrimer. 

"  Yes,  that  was  it — and  another  gentle- 
man," making  reference  to  his  notes,  "  a  Mr. 
Danielson,  I  think." 

"  Good,"  said  Lorrimer,  as  he  seated  him- 
self ;  "  I'll  wait  for  them." 

Inadvertently  he  had  taken  Mr.  Remson's 

revolving  chair,   close   to  the   roll-top   desk, 

and,  with  his  portfolio  on  his  knees  and  his 

toes  on  the  floor,  he  swung  himself  in  little 

H3 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

quarter  circles,  a  habit  he  had  fallen  into  at 
home  when  deep  in  thought.  With  one  hand 
he  grasped  the  handle  of  the  desk  lid,  and 
suddenly  he  noticed  that  the  desk  was  exactly 
like  the  one  in  his  own  study.  He  looked  at 
it  carefully  and  softly  smiled.  Wait  until  the 
cynical  Mr.  Wilkins  had  seen  what  that  desk 
contained !  He  longed  for  a  sight  of  the  flat 
bundle  loosely  tied  in  its  newspaper  wrap- 
pings! In  his  mind  he  formed  a  little  set 
speech  with  which  he  would  turn  over  the 
startling  contents  to  the  renowned  head  of 
the  detective  bureau.  He  wondered  if  the 
key  to  his  desk  at  home  would  fit  Mr.  Rem- 
son's.  He  was  almost  tempted  to  try — he 
had  it  in  his  pocket.  Then  again  he  smiled 
at  the  very  temptation.  He  could  afford  to 
wait  in  patience.  What  if  the  desk  was  not 
locked  at  all  ?  He  gave  a  strong  heave  to  the 
handle  that  he  was  still  grasping,  and  with 
the  familiar  rumbling  sound,  the  roll-top 
slid  upward.  He  gave  a  start  of  consterna- 
tion that  was  succeeded  by  a  cold  chill  of  the 
sheerest  fright — the  newspaper  bundle  was 
not  there !  The  pigeonholes  were  filled  with 
144 


AT    THE    BANK 


papers,  the  compartments  with  beautifully 
bound  notebooks.  Everything  was  neat  and 
orderly — but  the  plates,  where  were  they? 
Looking  up  he  caught  the  eye  of  the  watch- 
man, whose  attention  had  been  attracted  by 
the  sound  of  the  opening  lid.  He  perceived 
that  one  of  the  clerks  behind  the  glass  parti- 
tion had  noticed  the  commotion  also ;  but,  as 
if  feigning  unconsciousness,  the  young  man 
had  turned  back  to  his  ledger. 

Despite  the  uncomfortable  situation  Lor- 
rimer  grew  calmer.  The  fact  that  the  desk 
was  open,  when  he  had  turned  matters  over 
in  his  mind,  was  reassuring.  Mr.  Remson 
had  probably  telephoned  the  day  before  and 
ordered  the  plates  put  in  the  vault.  It  was 
very  thoughtful  of  him,  to  be  sure.  Lorrimer 
picked  up  the  portfolio  and  the  morning  pa- 
per, that  had  fallen  from  his  lap  to  the  floor, 
and  closed  the  lid  softly.  This  time  the  lock 
gave  an  audible  click.  Again  he  was  quite 
sure  that  the  clerk  behind  the  glass  partition 
had  heard  it;  but  it  was  none  of  the  clerk's 
affair.  He  could  explain  the  happening  to 
Mr.  Remson  when  he  arrived.  He  looked 
145 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

at  the  clock.  All  at  once  it  came  over  him 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  transact  any 
very  confidential  business  within  sight  and 
hearing  of  the  bank's  employees,  or  any 
casual  depositor  who  might  happen  to  enter; 
he  bethought  himself  of  the  cafe.  It  would 
be  easy  enough  to  go  over  there  and  engage 
one  of  the  small  private  rooms  for  the  con- 
ference. He  rose,  picking  up  the  portfolio 
carefully,  and,  as  he  passed  through  the  little 
gate,  spoke  to  the  watchman. 

"  I'll  be  back  in  a  few  minutes,"  he  said. 
"  If  anyone  should  ask  for  me,  I'll  be  here 
on  the  very  stroke  of  half-past  nine." 

With  that  he  tucked  the  portfolio  firmly 
under  his  arm  and  hurried  out,  fairly  running 
across  to  the  opposite  corner. 

When  Mr.  Lorrimer  returned,  in  less  than 
ten  minutes,  he  entered  upon  a  somewhat 
unusual  scene.  The  first  thing  he  noticed  was 
that  Mr.  Remson  had  arrived  and  was  stand- 
ing just  inside  the  railing  surrounded  by  the 
cashier  and  his  assistant,  one  or  two  deposi- 
tors, the  paying  teller,  and  half  a  dozen 
clerks.  The  watchman  also  was  one  of  the 
146 


AT     THE    BANK 


party;  he  stood  close  to  Mr.  Remson's  elbow, 
whispering  earnestly. 

"  Why,  I  could  swear  to  it,  sir!  "  he  was 
repeating  with  some  heat.  "  I  could  swear 
to  it  on  a  stack  of  Bibles  as  high  as " 

"  Never  mind,  Conlin.  No  more  just 
now,"  interrupted  Mr.  Remson,  hushing  him 
with  an  impatient  shake  of  the  head.  "  Just 
give  him  time  to  think.  He's  not  himself — 
anyone  can  see  that.  Gently  does  it!  " 

An  abject  little  figure  of  a  man  was  seated 
in  Mr.  Remson's  revolving  chair,  his  white 
head  bowed  forward  in  his  trembling  fingers. 
At  last  he  lifted  his  face,  and  his  eyes  swept 
the  silent  group  of  listeners  in  bewildered  and 
piteous  appeal. 

"  But  it's  the  Lord's  truth,  gentlemen,"  he 
groaned.  "  I  was  not  here — I  never  left  my 
house — I  never  came  down  here  at  all.  It 
seems  to  me  as  if  I  had  died  last  night  and 
came  to  life  again  this  morning.  Don't  you 
believe  me?  I'm  telling  you  the  truth!  " 

He  rose  to  his  feet,  his  knees  shaking. 

"  Mr.  Remson,"  he  pleaded,  "  you  must 
believe  me — has  anything  happened?  If 
147 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

there  has,  tell  me,  tell  me — don't  hide  it! 
Why  are  you  all  looking  at  me  like  that? 
Here,  Conlin,  you  know  you  never  saw  me 
— I  never  left  my  bed.  I  awoke  and  heard 
the  clock  strike  every  hour  between  twelve 
and  seven,  and  I  could  not  move  or  speak. 
Wait  till  you  hear  the  rest  of  what  I  can  tell ! 
You  don't  believe  me,  I  see,  I  see !  " 

His  voice  broke  in  a  little  sob.  The  trust 
officer  placed  his  arm  around  him  as  he  might 
around  a  child. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Marston,"  he  said,  "  don't 
take  on  that  way.  It's  all  right.  We're  all 
your  friends." 

"  But  did  anything  happen?  Who  was 
here?  Tell  me,  tell  me !  "  questioned  the  old 
man. 

"  Nothing  happened,  Marston — that  I 
know  of." 

"  On  your  word  of  honor  as  a  gentle- 
man?" 

"  On  my  word  of  honor." 

It  was  here  that  the  paying  teller  came  to 
the  relief  of  the  situation. 

"  Of  course,  Marston's  right,"  he  said. 
148 


AT    THE    BANK 


"  Conlin  and  Mr.  Gray  were  surely  mistaken. 
The  storm  must  have  upset  their  recollections. 
Marston  never  was  here  last  night.  Mr. 
Thrush  took  his  place;  didn't  you,  Thrush?  " 

The  lad  appealed  to  responded  with  an 
alacrity  that  proved  him  to  be  even  a  better 
actor  than  the  paying  teller. 

"  Why,  certainly  I  did.  I  was  here,  Con- 
lin. What's  the  matter  with  you  and  Gray? 
Don't  you  remember  when  we  thought  Mars- 
ton  wouldn't  be  able  to  come,  we  decided 
among  us  who  should  stay?  " 

"  I  do  now,"  replied  the  watchman  sheep- 
ishly. 

"  So  do  I,"  broke  in  a  young  man  in  an 
ink-bespattered  alpaca  coat.  "  Patrick,  I 
think  you  and  I  had  better  change  our  smoke 
— the  joke's  on  us,  for  sure!  " 

"  That's  all  right,  Mr.  Gray,"  began  the 
man  in  uniform  testily;  "but  you  and  me 
know  that " 

Mr.  Remson  interrupted  him  with  a  warn- 
ing  nudge  of  his   shoulder,    followed  by  a 
half-angry  gesture  commanding  silence.     He 
bent  over  the  old  man  again. 
149 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  So,  you  see  it's  all  right,"  he  said  sooth- 
ingly, "  and  there's  nothing  to  worry  about. 
Come  with  me  to  the  directors'  room  and 
we'll  talk  it  over  quietly." 

Mr.  Marston  made  his  way  through  the 
crowd,  disdaining  the  assistance  of  a  proffered 
arm,  and  tottered  down  the  corridor.  The 
trust  officer  signaled  the  cashier  to  step  aside 
with  him.  Passing  Lorrimer,  Mr.  Remson 
shook  his  head.  "  Back  in  a  minute,"  he 
said  beneath  his  breath;  "sad  case,  sad 
case  I  " 

For  the  first  time  since  he  had  joined  the 
group  of  listeners,  Lorrimer  found  an  oppor- 
tunity to  ask  what  had  occurred.  It  was  the 
paying  teller  who  replied : 

"  That's  our  old  night  guardian,  Marston; 
he  just  appeared  here  in  the  most  awful  state 
of  collapse.  It's  a  sudden  case  of  mental 
break-up,  loss  of  memory,  aphasia,  dementia, 
or  something.  He  says  he  was  not  at  the 
bank  last  night  at  all.  At  least  half  a  dozen 
of  us  saw  him,  and  Conlin  only  let  him  out 
about  two  hours  ago.  There  was  no  com- 
plaint from  the  Holmes  people.  Everything 
150 


AT    THE    BANK 


was  regular.  He's  been  ailing  for  some  time, 
poor  old  fellow.  I'm  afraid  it's  all  up  with 
him!" 

"  Why  don't  you  telephone  for  a  doctor?  " 
said  Lorrimer.  "  You  can  send  my  cab  for 
him.  .  .  .  Here,  I'll  scribble  a  note  on 
my  card — that'll  fetch  my  doctor.  Hasn't  he 
any  relatives  ?  " 

"  He  has  a  daughter,  I  believe;  a  trained 
nurse.  He  told  us  that  she  had  been  called 
away  to  attend  to  a  case  in  Brooklyn.  He 
couldn't  remember  the  address."  The  pay- 
ing teller  drew  a  long  breath  of  commisera- 
tion. "  It  must  be  awful,"  he  went  on, 
"awful,  to  lose  one's  mind!  We  had  to 
humor  him,  or  I  suppose  he'd  been  raving  by 
this  time — he  was  on  the  verge  of  it." 

Talking  in  subdued  voices,  the  clerks 
slowly  made  their  way  to  their  respective 
compartments,  the  depositors  departed,  and 
at  this  moment  the  watchman,  still  much 
agitated,  stepped  up  to  Lorrimer. 

"  Some  gentlemen  to  see  you,  sir,"  said  he. 

Putting  the  portfolio  down  on  top  of  Mr. 
Remson's  desk,  Lorrimer  stepped  out  into 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

the  corridor.  The  first  to  greet  him  was  Mr. 
Fowler.  It  was  with  evident  pleasure  and 
relief  that  the  latter  noticed  the  change  in  his 
client's  appearance.  Even  Mr.  Wilkins  was 
impressed,  as  he  acknowledged  Lorrimer's 
rather  stiff  "  Good  morning!  "  he  introduced 
the  third  man  of  the  little  party,  a  broad- 
shouldered,  stocky  individual,  as  Mr.  "  Dan- 
ielson." 

The  clerks  were  seated  at  their  desks,  al- 
though their  attention  was  not  yet  fixed  on 
their  ledgers;  and  the  teller,  perceiving  that 
the  gentlemen  wished  to  talk  over  some  pri- 
vate business,  made  an  excuse  for  leaving 
them  and  incarcerated  himself  in  his  own 
particular  little  cage. 

Lorrimer  drew  the  others  close  to  the 
window  fronting  the  avenue. 

"  As  soon  as  Mr.  Remson  returns,"  said 
he,  "  we'll  collect  the  evidence  I  have  to  show 
you  and  adjourn  to  a  little  private  room  I've 
engaged  over  the  way.  We  can  talk  much 
better  there  and  will  not  be  interrupted." 

"  Where  is  Mr.  Remson?  "  asked  Fowler. 
'  Back  in  the  directors'  room.  They  had 
152 


AT    THE    BANK 


a  very  pathetic  scene  here  a  few  minutes  ago. 
One  of  the  bank's  employees,  old  Marston, 
the  night  guardian,  turned  up,  suffering  from 
some  hallucination — quite  out  of  his  head, 
poor  man!  I've  sent  for  Dr.  Higgins  to 
come  down  and  look  him  over.  Ah,  here 
comes  Mr.  Remson  now !  " 

The  trust  officer,  looking  very  much 
worried,  was  advancing  toward  them  from 
the  directors'  room.  He  did  not  enter 
into  any  explanation,  and,  to  tell  the  truth, 
he  would  hardly  have  had  the  opportu- 
nity, for  Lorrimer  met  him  with  an  eager 
question. 

"  How  about  my  precious  little  bundle, 
Mr.  Remson,  that  I  left  with  you  day  before 
yesterday?  "  he  asked.  "  It  was  kind  of  you 
to  take  such  good  care  of  it." 

"  Not  at  all,  not  at  all,"  said  the  trust 
officer,  hauling  his  key  ring  out  of  his  pocket 
by  its  silver  chain.  "  I've  your  property  safe 
and  sound." 

He  tossed  the  lid  back  and  stood  there  for 
a  moment  puzzled. 

"  This  is  very  strange,"  said  he,  half  turn- 
11  153 


OUTSIDE   THE  LAW 

ing.  "  I  left  the  package  here  on  my  desk, 
and  I  wasn't  here  all  day  yesterday." 

11  You  probably  telephoned  for  somebody 
to  put  it  away  for  you,"  suggested  Lorrimer 
nervously.  "  By  the  way,  I  ought  to  tell 
you " 

"  I  telephoned,"  replied  the  trust  officer, 
interrupting,  "  but  it  was  upon  another  mat- 
ter. I  didn't  mention  the  package  containing 
the — what  was  it,  you  said?  " 

"  Plates,  the  plates,"  faltered  Lorrimer, 
his  voice  wavering.  He  clutched  the  top  of 
the  desk  and  swayed  forward,  his  face  white 
to  the  lips. 

"  They  should  be  here,"  said  the  trust 
officer,  "  unless  some  one  opened  my  desk, 
which  would  be  very  unusual.  I'll  call  Mr. 
Gray — he  acts  as  my  secretary.  Perhaps  he 
can  throw  some  light  upon  what  has  become 
of  them." 

Going  to  the  opening  in  one  of  the  glass 
partitions,  he  knocked  sharply  and  beckoned 
for  a  young  man  to  come  forward.  Lorrimer 
stood  there  speechless,  trembling.  The  idea 
of  telling  how  he  had  inadvertently  opened 
154 


AT    THE    BANK 


the  desk  faded  out  of  his  mind.  His  lower 
jaw  had  fallen  and  his  eyes  took  on  the 
frightened,  haunted  look  that  the  lawyer  had 
noticed  on  the  night  of  their  first  interview. 
As  Mr.  Remson  and  the  clerk  once  more  en- 
tered the  front  office,  Lorrimer  with  an  effort 
seemed  to  gather  his  scattered  mental  forces. 

"  Mr.  Remson,"  he  said  slowly  and 
hoarsely,  "  I  told  you  I  wouldn't  lose  those 
plates  for  a  hundred  thousand  dollars — you 
remember  that — and  I  put  them  in  your  care, 
sir!" 

"  Just  wait  a  moment,"  returned  the  trust 
officer,  nettled.  "  Just  wait  a  moment!  Mr. 
Gray,"  said  he,  turning  to  the  young  man 
who  was  listening,  much  bewildered  at  the 
strange  goings-on,  "  did  anyone  open  my 
desk  in  my  absence?  I  left  it  locked — I  am 
positive." 

"  No,  sir,"  replied  the  young  man,  "  no 
one  went  near  it  that  I  know  of;  no  one,  ex- 
cept, perhaps  " — he  paused  and  looked  at 
Lorrimer's  ghastly  face — "  except  this  gentle- 
man. I  saw  him  open  it  this  morning.  He 
was  sitting  here  in  your  chair." 
155 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

All  eyes  turned  upon  Lorrimer.  He 
started  to  speak,  but  apparently  the  words 
would  not  come  to  him.  He  stammered 
something  unintelligible. 

"  Have  you  a  key  that  would  unlock  this 
desk,  Mr.  Lorrimer?  "  asked  Mr.  Remson 
coldly.  "  Did  you  open  it  this  morning?  " 

"Confound  it,  sir;  what  do  you  mean?" 
Lorrimer  gasped  at  last.  "  I  opened  the  desk 
by  accident — I  was  going  to  tell  you —  It 
was  unlocked.  I  closed  it  again  at  once.  The 
plates  were  not  there !  What  have  you  done 
with  them?  "  he  demanded  fiercely.  "  What 
has  become  of  them?  Tell  me  that!  " 

The  two  men  glared  at  each  other  in  si- 
lence. Mr.  Remson's  astonishment  at  the 
outburst  seemed  to  deprive  him  of  the  power 
of  reply.  Mr.  Wilkins  stepped  between 
them,  quietly  interrupting  the  anxious  pause. 
He  spoke  rather  gently,  as  if  to  suggest  to  the 
others  that  they  should  also  lower  their  voices. 

"  The  gentleman  just  asked  you,  Mr.  Lor- 
rimer, if  you  had  a  key  that  would  unlock  this 
desk,"  he  said,  his  steel-blue  eyes  boring  into 
Lorrimer's  frightened  ones. 
156 


AT    THE    BANK 


"  I — yes,  I  have  a  key  that  might — but, 
of  course,  I  wouldn't  try  to  do  such  a  thing. 
Do  you  mean  to  insinuate " 

"  Not  at  all — but  you  certainly  wouldn't 
object  to  trying  now,"  said  the  detective. 
"  Have  you  got  it  in  your  pocket?  " 

"That's  none  of  your  affair,  sir!"  re- 
turned Lorrimer  hotly,  taking  a  half  step 
forward,  for  an  instant  the  fear  in  his  face 
giving  way  to  anger.  Mr.  Fowler  grasped 
his  client's  arm. 

"  Softly,  softly,"  he  said.  "  If  you've  got 
a  key  with  you,  it  would  be  better  to  see 
if  by  chance  it  might  fit  the  lock.  If  it 
doesn't,  why " 

"  Oh,  it'll  fit,  of  course,"  returned  Lorri- 
mer, drawing  his  own  key  ring  out  of  his 
pocket  and  selecting  a  key  instantly. 

He  slipped  it  into  the  lock  and  clicked  the 
bolt  half  a  dozen  times.  Then  he  replaced 
the  key  ring  with  a  vicious  drive  of  his  fist 
into  his  trousers  pocket. 

"  There,"  said  he,  "  is  that  what  you 
wanted?" 

"  It's  quite  enough,  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  re- 
157 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

turned  the  trust  officer.  "  It's  quite  enough 
for  me." 

"  There's  been  a  robbery,  .sir,"  cried  Lor- 
rimer  hotly,  "  a  rank,  barefaced  robbery ! 
Do  you  think  because  I  haven't  got  your  re- 
ceipt for  what  I  left  with  you " 

"  I  know  what  I  think,"  rejoined  Mr. 
Remson  with  a  shrug  of  his  shoulders,  "  and 
I  dare  say  that  these  gentlemen " 

"  Please,  please,"  interrupted  the  lawyer 
quietly,  "  don't  let  us  lose  our  heads.  Some- 
thing very  unusual  has  taken  place  here.  I 
would  like  to  ask  a  few  questions.  I  should 
like  to  speak  to  you,  Mr.  Gray." 

He  turned  to  the  young  man,  who  moved 
up  closer  and  stood  boldly  facing  him. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Gray,"  said  the  lawyer,  fall- 
ing by  instinct  into  his  dangerously  soft  tone 
of  cross-examination  that  had  so  often  been 
the  pitfall  of  positive  witnesses  on  the  stand, 
"  now,  Mr.  Gray,  you  say  you  saw  Mr. 
Lorrimer  open  this  desk.  I  suppose  you 
recognize  that  this  is  tantamount  to  an  ac- 
cusation  " 

"  I  don't  care  what  it's  tantamount  to," 
158 


AT    THE    BANK 


blurted  the  young  man;  "  but  I  saw  him  do 
it — so  did  Conlin." 

"Oh,  so  did  Conlin?" 

"Yes,  sir;  and  after  he  opened  it  he  got 
up  and  took  this — this  big,  flat  book,  or 
whatever  it  is,  and  left  the  bank." 

"  Did  you  see  him  place  anything  in  the 
portfolio?  " 

"  No,  sir;  but  perhaps  Conlin  did." 

Again  Mr.  Fowler  had  to  control  his 
client's  desire  to  speak. 

"  Just  leave  this  to  me,  Mr.  Lorrimer," 
he  said.  "  Don't  get  excited — we'll  get  to 
the  bottom  of  this  matter.  Where  is  this 
wit — "  he  corrected  himself  " — this  man, 
Conlin?" 

"  Conlin,"  called  the  trust  officer. 

The  day  watchman  stepped  forward.  Mr. 
Fowler  fixed  him  with  his  eye. 

"  Conlin,"  said  he,  in  a  familiar  tone  of 
intimate  previous  knowledge,  "  we're  asking 
a  few  questions  of  no  special  moment.  Did 
you  see  Mr.  Lorrimer  open  this  desk?" 

"  I  saw  him  with  it  open,  sir;  and  I  saw 
him  close  it." 

159 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  What  did  he  do  then,  may  I  ask?  " 

"  He  got  up  and  left  the  bank,  and  crossed 
over  the  street,  sir." 

"Yes?" 

"  And  just  at  the  corner  he  gave  a  man 
waiting  there  something — I  didn't  see  what 
it  was." 

If  the  electric  light  overhead  had  exploded 
into  a  thousand  fragments,  it  could  not  have 
caused  a  greater  sensation — even  Mr.  Fow- 
ler's imperturbable  face  showed  it.  He 
glanced,  half  questioning,  at  his  client.  It 
was  almost  as  if  he  had  implored  some  help 
from  him. 

"  It  was  my  morning  paper,"  Lorrimer 
croaked.  "  I  had  finished  with  it." 

"  Did  you  know  the  man,  Mr.  Lorrimer — 
perhaps  we  can  find  him " 

"  I  don't  know  who  he  was;  I  don't  care, 
and  I  don't  want  to  find  him !  All  /  want  is 
to  find  those  plates." 

Mr.  Wilkins,  who  had  drawn  aside  with 

the  short,  stocky  man,  with  whom  he  seemed 

to  have  some  secret  understanding,  gave  a 

grunt  that  sounded  not  at  all  unlike  an  ex- 

160 


AT    THE    BANK 


pression  of  derision.  His  companion's  face 
was  on  a  broad  and  open  grin. 

"  Now,  see  here,  sir,"  cried  Lorrimer, 
turning  upon  the  Chief  of  the  Secret  Service, 
"  I've  stood  about  enough  of  this  sort  of 
thing.  I'll  have  you  understand  that ! 
Your  business  is  to  detect  crime,  is  it 
not?" 

"  When  a  crime  has  been  committed," 
returned  Mr.  Wilkins  flatly,  "  yes." 

"  I  suppose  you  consider  that  a  very  bril- 
liant remark,"  snarled  Lorrimer.  "  I  tell 
you  there  has  been  a  robbery  committed  here 
at  this  bank." 

"  Oh,  well,  if  it's  a  bank  robbery,  that's 
an  affair  for  the  local  authorities  to  investi- 
gate. I  advise  you  to  call  them  at  once." 

"  Do  you  refuse  to  go  further  into  the 
matter?  " 

"  I  can't  say  that  I  have  started  yet,  Mr. 
Lorrimer.  We  must  always  have  some 
premise  to  begin  with.  I  haven't  seen  an 
iota  of  evidence." 

Lorrimer  opened  the  gate  into  the  corridor. 

"Where  are  you  going?"  asked  Mr. 
161 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

Fowler  quickly,  detaining  him  by  a  grasp  on 
his  shoulder. 

"  I'm  going  to  telephone  to  the  Central 
Office  and  have  some  one  come  up  here  who'll 
take  hold  of  this  case — that's  what  I'm  going 
to  do." 

"  Now,  wait  a  minute,"  said  the  lawyer, 
gazing  at  his  client's  flushed  and  angry  face. 
"  Just  think  things  over." 

"Think  nothing  over!"  Lorrimer  ex- 
claimed, shaking  himself  free.  "  You're  all 
a  pack  of  fools  and  idiots.  I'll  see  if  I  can 
find  a  sensible  man  somewhere  in  this  town. 
And  if  it  costs  every  cent  I've  got  I'll  probe 
this  affair  to  the  bottom !  " 

A  cab  made  its  way  through  the  crowd  of 
street  cleaners  and  snow  carts  at  work  in  the 
avenue.  A  man  with  a  gray  mustache  de- 
scended and  hurriedly  entered  the  bank,  just 
in  time  to  see  Mr.  Lorrimer  standing  there 
shaking  an  angry  forefinger  at  the  group  in- 
side the  rail.  The  newcomer  seemed  to  take 
in  the  situation  at  once.  He  nodded  to  Mr. 
Fowler  with  an  expression  of  sudden  under- 
standing. 

162 


Fools  and  idiots!"   Lorrimer  repeated. 


AT    THE    BANK 


"  Fools  and  idiots!  "  Lorrimer  repeated. 
"  Jackasses !  "  Then,  moved  no  doubt  by 
the  condition  of  his  wrought-up  nerves,  he 
burst  into  a  bitter  laugh,  and  turned  only  to 
run  into  the  gray-mustached  stranger's  arms. 
The  latter  laid  a  firm,  detaining  hold  on  Lor- 
rimer's  arm  and  the  lapel  of  his  coat. 

"  Just  got  your  card,  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  said 
he.  "  I  came  down  at  once." 

"  Oh,  did  you  ?  Well,  it's  none  of  my 
affair — these  gentlemen  will  explain,  I  dare 
say — /  don't  want  to  see  you." 

"  But — just  wait !    I'm  Dr.  Higgins !  " 

"  Well,  whom  did  you  suppose  I  thought 
you  were?  Let  go  of  me;  I'm  going  to  tele- 
phone for  the  police." 

"  Why,  what's  the  matter?    Gently  now !  " 

Somehow  the  doctor's  manner  seemed  to 
have  an  influence  upon  Lorrimer's  excited 
mind.  He  lowered  his  voice,  speaking  in 
tense,  hoarse  whispers.  The  clerks  had  again 
gathered  toward  the  front  of  the  office,  crowd- 
ing up  against  the  bars  and  grilles. 

"  There's  been  a  robbery,"  Lorrimer  re- 
peated, "  an  outrageous  robbery !  And  yet 
163 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

I  can't  convince  these  gentlemen  of  the 
fact!" 

"  There's  been  no  robbery  that  the  bank 
can  complain  of,  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  put  in  Mr. 
Remson.  "  I  advise  you  to  go  somewhere 
with  this  gentleman  and  Mr.  Fowler,  and  talk 
it  over  before  you  send  for  the  police." 

For  an  instant  it  looked  as  if  Lorrimer 
was  going  to  lose  all  control  of  himself.  The 
doctor  rose  to  the  occasion — aid  might  be 
necessary. 

"  There's  a  policeman  just  outside  here  on 
the  corner,"  said  he  softly;  "we'll  ask  him 
in — a  very  intelligent-looking  policeman — 
he  might  be  the  very  man  you  want  to 
talk  to." 

"  You're  a  fool,  too,"  said  Lorrimer,  look- 
ing at  the  doctor  in  disgust.  He  folded  his 
arms  and  leaned  back  against  the  radiator 
in  the  corner,  glaring  at  his  unconscious  tor- 
mentors like  a  man  at  bay. 

The  watchman  had  opened  the  door,  and, 
with  a  shrill  whistle,  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  round  and  rubicund  patrolman. 

"Hey,  Jack;  you're  wanted  in  here,"  he 
164 


AT    THE    BANK 


said,  slipping  into  the  vestibule.  "  We've 
got  a  couple  of  crazy  folks  inside  ready  for 
the  Pavilion,"  he  went  on,  as  the  officer  hur- 
ried up  to  him.  "  One,  who  says  he  wasn't 
here  last  night,  when  he  was — the  other  who 
says  the  bank's  been  robbed,  when  it  hasn't." 

"  See  that  fellow  over  there  across  the 
street,"  returned  the  officer,  pausing;  "that 
fellow  with  the  big  mustache — that's  O'Sulli- 
van,  one  of  our  plain-clothes  men.  Go  over 
and  get  him." 

The  watchman  obeyed,  and  the  bluecoat, 
hitching  at  his  belt,  ascended  the  steps. 

He  entered  upon  the  strained  and  dramatic 
situation,  just  at  the  moment  of  a  new  and 
startling  diversion. 

The  radiator  against  which  Lorrimer  was 
leaning  was  at  top  heat,  a  fact  that  had  just 
communicated  itself  to  his  anatomy  through 
the  medium  of  his  overcoat;  he  jumped  for- 
ward suddenly  with  a  smothered  exclamation. 
The  crowd  scattered  in  all  directions. 

"  Here,  none  o'  that  1  "  growled  the  officer, 
using  a  phrase  traditional  in  the  Department. 
At  the  same  time  he  dodged  backward  and 
165 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

fumbled  with  his  coat  tails,  a  procedure  that 
Lorrimer,  also,  was  indulging  in  at  the 
moment. 

"  Drop  that,  and  throw  up  your  hands !  " 
ordered  the  policeman  peremptorily.  "  Up 
with  'em !  " 

As  he  spoke,  he  drew  out  a  shining  six- 
shooter.  The  clerks  at  the  grilles  dodged  be- 
hind the  solid  half  of  the  partitions.  With 
a  jangle  of  steel  the  officer's  handcuffs  fell 
upon  the  floor. 

At  this  instant  a  querulous,  broken  voice 
rose  suddenly  from  the  corridor. 

"  Oh,  Lord;  I  knew  it!  "  came  the  words, 
in  a  wail  of  fear  and  anguish.  "  There  was 
a  robbery !  I  knew  there  must  have  been !  " 

All  eyes  turned  in  the  new  direction — there 
was  old  Marston !  It  was  a  remarkable  pic- 
ture. Mr.  Lorrimer  stood  fronting  the  offi- 
cer, with  folded  arms;  the  doctor,  stepping 
forward,  had  grasped  the  hand  containing 
the  shining  pistol. 

"That  isn't  necessary,"  he  said;  "that 
isn't  necessary  at  all;  put  that  up — he's  per- 
fectly  " 

166 


AT    THE    BANK 


What  he  was  going  to  say  was  sharply 
interrupted. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Remson !  "  continued  the  old 
guardian,  tottering  nearer  with  trembling 
steps.  "  Tell  me  what  has  happened,  tell  me 
what  has  occurred!  I  knew  there  was  a 
robbery — I  knew  there  was !  " 

"What  do  you  know  about  it?"  ques- 
tioned the  stout  preserver  of  the  peace,  turn- 
ing full  upon  him  before  Mr.  Remson  could 
answer.  He  doubtless  felt  that  the  dignity  of 
the  law  demanded  his  taking  control  of  the 
situation. 

"What  do  /  know  about  it?"  the  old 
night  guardian  replied,  his  voice  rising  almost 
to  a  treble.  "  I  wasn't  here,  I  was  home  in 
bed — I  couldn't  move  hand  nor  foot !  " 

This  was  too  much  for  the  red-faced  pa- 
trolman— he  palpably  wilted.  It  had  already 
been  too  much  for  Mr.  Wilkins  and  the  stocky 
individual  who  had  doubled  up,  half  hid  be- 
hind the  roll-top  desk. 

"  Well,  what's  the  game  here,  anyhow?  " 
mumbled  the  policeman,  as,  under  the  still 
whispered  exhortations  from  the  doctor,  he 
167 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

replaced  his  emblem  of  immediate  authority. 
"  What  sort  of  a  graft  is  this — what  am  I  up 
against?  " 

Upon  this  muddled  state  of  affairs  entered 
the  plain-clothes  man,  followed  by  Mr. 
Conlin. 

"  Hello,  Jack;  have  you  got  'em — want 
any  help  ?  "  asked  the  former,  in  a  tone  of 
official  gruffness  suggestive  of  latent  powers. 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply;  "I  want  a  book 
full  of  it — I'm  all  to  the  bad  here,  sergeant. 
They've  got  me  up  a  tree  for  fair." 

The  plain-clothes  man  suddenly  caught 
sight  of  Mr.  Wilkins,  who  had,  with  an 
effort,  controlled  his  expression  of  hilarious 
enjoyment. 

"How'd  do,  Chief!"  he  said.  "Per- 
haps you  can  let  us  in  to  what's  going  on! 
You  remember  me — I  was  with  you  when 
we  pinched  Spieler  Richards,  over  to  Green- 
point." 

"  Oh,  I  remember  you  well,  O'Sullivan," 

said  the  head  of  the  Secret  Service,   "  and 

I'd  be  glad  to  oblige,  but  to  tell  the  truth,  I 

couldn't  explain  this  game  at  all — I   don't 

168 


AT    THE    BANK 


think  there's  anything  here  for  either  one  of 
us.  We  can  step  down  and  out." 

It  was  here  that  old  Marston  added  a 
new  complication. 

"  How  much  has  been  taken?  "  he  asked. 
"  Did  he  get  into  the  big  vault?  You  gave 
me  your  word  of  honor  as  a  gentleman  that 
nothing  had  happened,  Mr.  Remson!  " 

There  was  a  depth  of  reproach  in  the  old 
man's  voice.  The  trust  officer  stepped  up 
to  him. 

"  We'll  explain  all  that,"  he  said,  "  when 
we  get  back  in  the  directors'  room  again. 
Doctor,  will  you  come  with  us?  " 

He  leaned  over  as  he  passed  Mr.  Fowler 
and  whispered  in  his  ear. 

"  Get  Lorrimer  out  of  this  and  take  him 
home,"  he  said.  "  I'll  be  up  there  in  half 
an  hour — as  soon  as  we  decide  what  to  do 
with  old  Marston.  You've  got  to  help  us." 
He  would  have  passed  down  the  corridor, 
but  Lorrimer,  jumping  forward  impetuously, 
detained  him. 

"Hold  on,"  he  said;  "not  so  fast,  not 
quite  so  fast.  There's  been  a  robbery,  and  I 
12  169 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

won't  be  put  off  that  way.  I  demand  to  know 
what's  become  of  my  plates.  No,  no,  they 
weren't  mine,"  he  corrected  himself;  "  I 
never  had  anything  to  do  with  them.  But  I 
accuse — I — I  want  somebody  arrested." 

"  Who  is  it?  "  asked  O'Sullivan.  "  I  think 
there  are  plenty  of  us  here  to  take  care  of  two 
or  three  safe-breakers." 

The  lawyer  tried  to  smooth  things  over. 

"  We've  got  to  get  a  warrant  first,  old 
man;  that's  what  we've  got  to  do  before 
there  will  be  any  arresting.  Come  with  me; 
we'll  go  up  to  the  house  and  talk  it  over. 
Don't  let's  have  any  more  of  a  scene  here. 
First  thing  you  know  we'll  all  be  in  the  papers 
— that's  what  you  wished  to  avoid,  you  know. 
Come  along  now — come  like  a  sensible 
chap." 

Strange  to  say,  Lorrimer  allowed  himself 
to  be  led  quietly  out  into  the  vestibule.  The 
doctor  hesitated  whether  he  should  follow  or 
not,  but  at  a  subtle  shake  of  Mr.  Fowler's 
head,  he  turned  and  allowed  himself  to  be 
drawn  down  the  corridor  by  Mr.  Remson. 
Half  struggling,  the  old  night  guardian  was 
170 


AT    THE    BANK 


being  coaxed  along  between  Conlin  and  the 
paying  teller.  Mr.  Wilkins  and  the  officers 
gathered  together  in  a  corner  and  indulged 
in  some  whispered  explanations  that  seemed 
to  be  more  or  less  mirth-provoking. 

"  So  you  see,"  the  great  detective  con- 
cluded, "  if  he  gets  out  a  warrant,  it  will  have 
to  be  for  himself!  I  think  he'll  have  to  go 
to  a  place  where  he  can  rest  for  a  while  and 
think  it  over." 

"How  about  the  other  fellow?"  asked 
O'Sullivan.  "  He's  plumb  nutty,  isn't  he?  " 

"Yes;  we're  going  to  call  a  cab  and  in- 
veigle him  down  to  Bellevue — perhaps  you'd 
better  come  along." 

"  Let  on  we  was  taking  him  to  the  Central 
Office,  eh?" 

"  Yes,  that's  the  ticket.  Now  you  and  the 
officer  go  out  and  disperse  that  crowd  that's 
gathered  outside — tell  them  nothing  has  hap- 
pened." 

Through  this  same  crowd  that  had  been 
attracted  by  the  keen  scent  for  unusual  com- 
motion dormant  in  every  metropolitan  pedes- 
trian, Lorrimer  and  Fowler  had  made  their 
171 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

way  to  the  cab.  To  the  lawyer's  surprise,  his 
friend,  though  very  pale,  had  himself  well  in 
hand. 

They  had  gone  but  a  few  blocks  up  the 
avenue  when  Lorrimer  spoke  in  an  even,  well- 
modulated  tone. 

"  Well,"  he  asked,  "  what  are  you  going 
to  do  about  it?" 

"  Give  us  time,"  returned  Mr.  Fowler, 
"  give  us  time  !  Wilkins  is " 

"  Wilkins  is  an  ass,"  interrupted  Lorri- 
mer. "  Just  count  him  out  of  it!  " 

Mr.  Fowler  sought  to  switch  the  subject 
at  once. 

"  What  a  strange  thing  it  was,  that  poor 
old  night  guardian  losing  his  mind  that 
way!  "  he  remarked. 

"  Yes,  very  strange !  "  sneered  Lorrimer. 
"  Don't  you  see  through  it?  " 

"See  through  what?" 

"  Why,  he's  the  man  that's  got  my  plates, 
or  is  in  collusion  with  the  one  who  took 
them." 

"  Oh,  come,  come !  Can't  you  get  those 
plates  out  of  your  mind — see  if  you  can't!  " 
172 


AT    THE    BANK 


Lorrimer  turned  on  him  slowly. 

"Shall  I  drop  you  at -the  club?"  he 
asked. 

"  No;  I'm  going  home  with  you." 

"  No,  no,  you're  not.  I'm  going  to 
work  this  thing  out  alone,  now.  I  don't 
need  any  more  expert  assistance,  thank  you. 
The  plates  are  gone,  that's  all  there  is 
to  it!" 

The  lawyer  did  not  reply.  He  sat  there 
in  silence  wondering  how  he  would  have  to 
treat  this  new  phase  of  the  affair. 

Ten  minutes  after  the  loiterers  at  the  door- 
way of  the  bank  had  dispersed  and  the  insti- 
tution had  resumed,  to  all  appearances,  its 
normal  quiet,  a  closed  landau  in  which  were 
seated  four  men  drove  away  from  the  en- 
trance, an  officer  in  uniform  sitting  beside  the 
driver. 

When  the  carriage  came  in  sight  of  the 
ominously  solemn,  gray  building  on  the  East- 
River  front,  the  window  was  opened  and  a 
head  thrust  out. 

"  Hey,  there,  Jack!  "  hailed  the  voice  of 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

Detective  Sergeant  O'Sullivan,  addressing  the 
officer  on  the  box;  "  tell  him  to  drive  down  to 
Mulberry  Street." 

Now,    Mulberry   Street   is    Police   Head- 
quarters. 


174 


CHAPTER    X 

A    SEARCH    WITH    A    PURPOSE 

|ISS  ELSIE  MARSTON,  when  she 
returned  to  the  little  West-Side  flat 
on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  these 
remarkable  occurrences,  was  in  a  peculiar  con- 
dition of  mind  and  temper.  She  had  gone 
through  several  experiences  that  she  would 
not  care  to  undergo  again.  Like  most  people 
under  the  circumstances,  she  desired  to  have 
some  mind,  other  than  her  own,  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  perplexities  of  the  situation. 

Of  course  she  had  not  expected  to  find  her 
father  at  home — it  was  his  time  to  be  at  the 
bank.  She  imagined  him  sitting  there,  be- 
neath the  green-shaded  lamp,  reading,  or 
working  on  the  notes  of  his  never-to-be-fin- 
ished task  of  translating  the  works  of  Vedic 
literature  into  ponderous  and  very  impossible 
blank  verse.  For  years  old  Marston  had 
been  a  faithful  and  patient  toiler  in  the  field 
175 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

of  research  into  Sanscrit  and  Hindoo  litera- 
ture. That  the  ground  had  been  completely 
covered  by  Max  Miiller  and  Colin  Macken- 
zie had  not  deterred  him;  nor  was  he  de- 
pressed by  the  fact  that  editors  and  publishing 
houses  had  never  evinced  the  slightest  interest 
in  the  undertaking.  To  them  the  old  gentle- 
man was  one  of  those  misguided  literary 
cranks  whose  correspondence  is  to  be  kindly 
tolerated  or  politely  disregarded.  Mr.  Mar- 
ston  spent  his  free  hours  of  daylight  in  delv- 
ing into  musty  tomes  at  the  libraries,  and 
employed  his  long  vigils  at  the  bank  in  com- 
piling the  results  of  his  persistent  digging. 
The  only  encouragement  that  he  ever  received 
had  been  from  his  daughter,  who  had  listened 
to  long  hours  of  monotonous  rereading,  and 
who  had  copied  page  after  page  of  transla- 
tions of  the  early  Manavas,  and  the  intermin- 
able legends  of  the  Maha-Bharata.  Sundays 
and  holidays  she  had  often  spent  in  laboring 
thus  as  a  voluntary  amanuensis  in  the  front 
room  of  the  little  apartment,  for  she  had 
never  accompanied  the  old  gentleman  to  his 
work.  Very  often,  however,  Elsie  had  rung 


A   SEARCH    WITH  A    PURPOSE 

up  her  father  on  the  telephone  and  held  a 
few  minutes'  conversation  with  him  before 
she  bade  him  a  long-distance  good  night. 
It  was  half-past  seven  o'clock  when  she  en- 
tered the  little  drug  shop  next  door  to  the 
apartment  house,  and,  going  to  the  telephone, 
called  for  the  bank's  number.  A  strange 
voice  replied,  requesting,  somewhat  peremp- 
torily, her  name  and  business. 

The  clerk  at  the  soda-water  fountain, 
whose  hourly  entertainment  was  listening  to 
the  one-sided  telephonic  conversations  (the  in- 
strument was  in  plain  sight  and  hearing  at 
the  corner  of  the  perfume  counter) ,  was  now 
astonished  at  what  he  saw  and  heard.  He 
allowed  the  vanilla  that  he  was  drawing  for 
a  young  lady  customer  to  fill  a  half-pint  glass 
and  to  drip  over  his  celluloid  cuffs. 

"  This  is  Miss  Marston.  .  .  .  Yes;  he 
is  my  father.  .  .  .  What!  Bellevue 
Hospital!  .  .  .  This  afternoon!  What 
was  the  matter?  .  .  .  But  I  must 
know.  Tell  me!  ...  I'm  his  daughter, 
do  you  hear!  I'm  Miss  Marston." 

The  clerk,  his  eyes  and  ears  still  wander- 
177 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

ing  from  his  business,  saw  her  waver  for- 
ward, but  she  recovered  herself  and  listened 
quietly. 

"  I  shall  go  down  there  at  once,"  she  said 
at  last.  "  Yes,  yes,  I  understand.  .  .  , 
Thank  you !  " 

White  and  trembling  she  rose  and  stag- 
gered slightly. 

"Anything  the  matter?"  asked  the  clerk, 
turning  with  the  lady  customer,  who  had  also 
been  an  interested  listener  and  spectator. 

"  My  father  has  been  taken  sick  at  the 
bank  and  has  gone  to  the  hospital,"  Miss 
Marston  replied  quite  calmly,  as  she  paid 
her  fee  for  the  use  of  the  telephone.  Another 
moment  she  had  hurried  out  into  the  street. 

Never  did  a  Subway  train  seem  to  go 
slower;  never  did  the  old  horse  cars  that  crawl 
eastward  through  Twenty-eighth  Street  travel 
at  such  a  snail's  pace;  but  at  last — there  was 
the  old  gray  building !  Almost  on  a  run  Miss 
Marston  entered  the  gateway. 

There  was  no  record  at  the  office  of  any 
one  of  her  father's  name  having  been  received 
as  a  patient  in  any  of  the  wards ! 
178 


A   SEARCH    WITH  A    PURPOSE 

Elsie  Marston  had  that  peculiar  type  of 
courage  that  faces  difficulties  with  thrown- 
back  shoulders  and  a  steady  tension  of  will 
and  muscle.  But  this  unexpected  and  heart- 
stopping  climax  to  the  mystery,  coming  upon 
other  strange  doings  of  the  day,  almost  upset 
the  balance,  upon  the  possession  of  which  she 
had  so  often  felt  a  pride.  She  could  feel  her 
knees  shaking  despite  herself,  her  underlip 
was  quivering.  What  could  she  do?  To 
whom  could  she  turn?  She  had  never  met, 
personally,  any  of  her  father's  associates — if 
he  could  be  said  to  have  any — at  the  bank; 
even  their  names  were  not  familiar  to  her. 
But  something  must  be  done!  It  was  still 
early — there  must  be  some  one  who  could  at 
least  give  her  a  clew.  Ah,  there  was  the  man 
at  the  bank  to  whom  she  had  previously  tele- 
phoned, the  man  who  was  watching  in  her 
father's  place !  As  she  hurried  down  the 
street,  she  looked  for  the  familiar  blue  sign 
with  the  white  letters  that  told  of  a  public 
telephone  station.  At  last  she  saw  one  at  the 
entrance  of  a  little  third-class  East-Side  hotel. 

The  man  at  the  bank — still  somewhat  short 
179 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

in  his  replies — was  unable  to  explain  what  had 
occurred,  but  lent  her  some  blind  assistance. 
Somehow  he  had  got  it  in  his  mind  that  a 
"  Mr.  Paul  Lorrimer,"  a  depositor,  had  ac- 
cused her  father  of  something,  or  her  father 
had  accused  Mr.  Lorrimer,  whichever  way  it 
was.  At  all  events  there  had  been  a  general 
mix-up  and  the  calling  in  of  the  police.  He 
gave  her  the  names  of  one  or  two  of  the 
bank's  officials  who  had  been  present  at  the 
disturbance;  but  only  one  of  them  could  she 
find  in  the  telephone  book.  (He  had  gone  to 
the  theater  and  would  not  be  back  till  late.) 
Lorrimer's  name,  however,  remained  in  her 
mind.  Seeking  for  it  in  the  list,  she  found  it 
at  last;  but  getting  no  response  after  repeated 
calls,  Miss  Marston  determined  upon  a  bolder 
plan.  She  would  go  up  at  once  and  demand 
to  see  him — the  man  who  had  dared  to  accuse 
her  father! 


180 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE    INTERVIEW 

LADY   asking    for   you,    sir,"    said 
Judson,    in    his    impeccable    man- 
ner,  as  he  stood  in  the  doorway 
of  his  studio. 

Up  and  down  the  soft-carpeted  floor  Lor- 
rimer  had  been  pacing  recklessly  for  the  past 
two  hours.  He  apparently  was  so  engrossed 
with  his  thoughts  that  he  did  not  hear  Jud- 
son's  words  or  notice  his  presence. 

Now,  Judson  was  one  of  those  individuals 
whose  vocabulary  contains  no  words  express- 
ive of  surprise  and  whose  rules  of  personal 
punctuation  eliminate  the  question  mark.  If 
his  master  had  appeared  in  an  Indian  head- 
dress at  the  dinner  table,  or  had  made  ready 
to  go  out  for  his  drive  in  the  Park  wrapped 
in  the  folds  of  the  American  flag,  he  would 
have  offered  no  suggestion.  If  Mr.  Lorrimer 
had  suddenly  burst  into  tears  upon  his  shoul- 
181 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

der,  Judson  would  have  got  out  of  the  diffi- 
culty with  dignity  and  without  a  display  of 
curiosity,  vulgar  or  otherwise.  But  never,  in 
the  whole  course  of  his  long  service,  had  he 
known  his  master  to  have  a  feminine  caller. 
Not  by  the  quiver  of  an  eyebrow,  however, 
did  he  betray  any  sense  of  the  unusualness  of 
the  occurrence.  Calmly  he  repeated  his  an- 
nouncement. 

"A  lady  to  see  me,  Judson !  "  exclaimed 
Mr.  Lorrimer  nervously,  stopping  and  turn- 
ing full  upon  him.  "  What  are  you  talking 
about?" 

u  Perhaps  I  should  have  said  '  young  per- 
son,' sir;  but  I  am  sure  she  is  a  lady,  sir." 
Judson,  like  the  rest  of  his  kind,  prided  him- 
self also  on  his  powers  of  unerring  discern- 
ment. 

"What  docs  she  look  like?" 

For  an  instant  Mr.  Lorrimer's  thoughts 
went  back  to  the  mysterious  meeting  at  the 
bank,  to  the  large  lady  of  the  "  Echo  from 
Strauss." 

"  I  should  say  she  was  rather  pretty,  sir — 
yes,  very  pretty,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  think 
182 


THE    INTERVIEW 


so."  He  coughed.  "  She  insists  upon  see- 
ing you !  Claims  it's  of  great  importance, 
sir." 

"And  her  name,  did  she  tell  you  her 
name?" 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Show  her  in,  Judson,  and — er — wait 
within  calling  distance." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

Lorrimer,  forgetting  in  his  perturbation 
the  trouble  he  had  had  with  Mr.  Fowler, 
longed  for  that  gentleman's  presence.  But 
astonishment  overcame  him  when  a  tall, 
slender  young  figure  appeared  in  the  door- 
way. 

"  This  is  Mr.  Lorrimer,  miss,"  said  Jud- 
son, murmuring  the  introduction  in  a  tone 
of  self-effacement.  Again  his  discernment 
had  assured  him  that  the  lady  was  unmarried. 

As  Miss  Marston  lifted  her  veil,  Lorrimer 
stepped  forward  and  turned  on  the  electric 
light,  for  up  to  this  moment  the  room  had 
been  in  semidarkness.  At  the  same  time  the 
lady  turned  and  closed  the  door  in  Mr.  Jud- 
son's  sphinxlike  face. 

183 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  I  am  Miss  Marston,"  she  said,  coming 
down  to  the  edge  of  the  desk.  "It  is  very 
important  that  I  should  talk  with  you." 

"  Well,  madam,"  said  Lorrimer,  covering 
his  half-fright  with  an  effort  at  politeness, 
"  I  am  at  your  disposal.  Pray,  be  seated." 

He  indicated  one  of  the  great  leather 
chairs,  but  the  girl  apparently  noticed  neither 
the  invitation  nor  the  gesture. 

"  I  have  come  to  ask  you,  Mr.  Lorrimer," 
she  continued,  withdrawing  one  hand  from 
her  muff  and  placing  her  fingertips  on  the 
table  as  she  bent  forward,  "  where  is  my 
father?  " 

"  I  am  sure  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea, 
madam,"  said  Lorrimer,  still  politely.  "  Who 
might  your  father  be?  " 

"  George  Marston,  sir;  the  night  guard- 
ian at  the " 

"  Oh,  at  the  bank — I  understand!  "  inter- 
rupted Mr.  Lorrimer.  "  So  you're  his  daugh- 
ter!" 

"lam,  sir.    Where  is  he?  " 

Mr.  Lorrimer  could  not  help  noticing  that 
the  girl's  voice  was  deep  and  resonant  and 
184 


THE    INTERVIEW 


that  there  was  also  a  depth  of  resolution  in 
her  clear,  dark  eyes. 

"  My  dear  young  lady,  do  be  seated,"  he 
urged  again. 

This  time  Miss  Marston  acquiesced,  but 
her  attitude  was  indicative  of  her  determina- 
tion. She  never  removed  her  fingertips  from 
the  edge  of  the  desk.  Her  hand  was  un- 
gloved and  Mr.  Lorrimer  perceived  that  it 
was  small  and  exceedingly  well  shaped. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  went  on  the  girl, 
"  I  want  you  to  tell  me  things  plainly.  I 
hope  to  have  you  explain  to  me  what  you  can 
of  this  mystifying  affair.  Has  my  father  been 
taken  suddenly  ill?  Is  he  in  trouble  of  any 
kind?  "  She  paused.  "  Has  he  been  accused 
of  anything?  Have  you  accused  him?" 

"Well,  no;  not  exactly,"  said  Lorrimer, 
seating  himself  on  the  other  side  of  the  desk 
and  avoiding  the  lady's  eyes.  u  But  you  ask 
a  great  many  questions  at  one  time.  Let  us 
take  the  last  one  first.  I  can't  say  that  I 
have,  as  yet,  accused  anybody.  But  it  is  all 
very  strange  and  beyond  my  comprehension 
— the  whole  affair." 

13  185 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  It  is  also  beyond  mine,"  took  up  Miss 
Marston.  "  Will  you  tell  me  what  you  can? 
Mind  you,  I  know  nothing." 

"  I  can  only  tell  you  what  I  saw  and  heard 
at  the  bank  this  morning.  Perhaps  it  would 
be  better  if  I  kept  my  deductions  to  myself." 

"Oh,  no,"  said  the  girl;  "we  will  have 
your  deductions  afterwards — but  please  go 
on,  from  the  beginning." 

"  Well,  Miss  Marston,  your  father  came 
to  the  bank  this  morning,  evidently  in  a  much 
upset  mental  condition.  He  affirmed  most 
positively  that  he  had  not  been  near  the  in- 
stitution the  night  previous,  when,  to  the  cer- 
tain knowledge  of  at  least  four  or  five  gentle- 
men who  were  present  this  morning,  he  had 
been  there.  They  had  seen  him  and  con- 
versed with  him.  There  had  been  no  com- 
plaint from  the  Holmes  people  about  any 
neglect  of  the  watchman's  recorder." 

"  But  my  father  was  sick  when  I  left  him 
— he  had  a  fever — he  may  have  been  de- 
lirious. Oh,  tell  me,  where  is  he?  You  know 
people  of  his  age  are  apt  to  have  hallucina- 
tions in  fever.  What  have  they  done  with 
186 


THE    INTERVIEW 


him?  He  may  have  imagined  he  was  not 
there." 

"  I  don't  know.  Until  now  I  thought  he 
was  in  the  hospital — Bellevue,  I  think  it  was. 
Dr.  Higgins,  who  has  some  reputation  as 
an  alienist — although  I  wouldn't  give  much 
for  his  opinion — made  some  kind  of  an  ex- 
amination." 

"  But  that  is  not  all.  You're  hiding  some- 
thing," said  the  girl. 

Lorrimer  shuffled  his  elbows  on  the  desk 
uncomfortably. 

"  Well,  Miss  Marston,  on  the  night  your 
father  said  he  was  absent — that  is,  last  mght 
— when  the  others  were  ready  to  declare  on 
oath  they  had  seen  him — the  bank  was 
robbed!" 

"Robbed!"  cried  Miss  Marston,  spring- 
ing from  her  seat.  "  Do  they  dare  accuse 
my  father  of  any  knowledge  of  any " 

She  stopped  herself.  Her  eyes  narrowed 
slightly.  "  Who  is  it  that  could  think  such  a 
thing?  I  would  like  to  know  his  name !  Do 
the  bank  officials  make  a  charge?" 

It  must  suddenly  have  come  to  Mr.  Lor- 
187 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

rimer  that  his  explanation  would  soon  be  a 
little  tangled.  A  realization  of  the  difficulties 
before  him  caused  him  to  be  overwhelmed  in 
a  sudden  flood  of  self-consciousness. 

"  No ;  I  don't  think  that  they  made  any 
accusations,"  said  he.  "  I  think  they  just 
suspected  —  some  —  er  —  some  mental  de- 
rangement." 

The  girl's  relief  was  evident. 

"Well,  how  about  the  robbery,  then? 
Did  they  accuse  anyone  else?  "  she  persisted. 
"  How  much  was  taken,  and  at  what  hour, 
and  from  where?  " 

"  My  dear  young  lady,"  said  Lorrimer, 
"  I  must  be  frank  with  you.  If  anyone  has 
accused  your  father,  it  must  be  I;  if  anyone 
was  robbed,  it  was  myself;  and  if  anyone  is 
— er — suspected — "  Mr.  Lorrimer  paused. 

"  Go  on,  sir,"  said  Miss  Marston  anxiously. 

"  It  is  myself  again!  " 

"  You  do  not  make  it  very  "clear,"  said  the 
girl,  her  forehead  wrinkled.  "  Perhaps  you 
had  better  begin  at  the  beginning  again,  and 
tell  me  your  story." 

The  dark  eyes  never  lifted  from  Lorri- 
188 


THE    INTERVIEW 


mer's  face  until  the  moment  he  had  con- 
cluded. But  he  told  her  of  old  Straub,  of 
the  strange  finding  of  the  plates,  their  de- 
posit at  the  bank,  their  mysterious  disappear- 
ance, and,  led  on  by  his  own  troubled  story, 
how  inseparably  their  possession  was  con- 
nected with  his  future  peace  of  mind. 

"  But,  surely,  you  must  know  that  my 
father  had  nothing  to  do  with  this,"  said 
Miss  Marston  when  he  had  concluded. 
"  With  all  your  " — she  was  going  to  say 
"  wealth,"  but  corrected  herself — "  with  all 
your  facilities,  with  all  your  friends,  and  the 
assistance  you  can  command,  you  should  have 
no  hard  task  in  tracing  these  missing  articles." 

Lorrimer  felt  that  his  face  was  turning  a 
bright  and  unbecoming  crimson,  but  he  lifted 
his  eyes  to  the  girl's  bravely  and  came  to  the 
point  like  a  man. 

"  Miss  Marston,"  said  he,  "  no  one  be- 
lieves me!  Even  the  best  friend  that  I 
thought  I  had  in  the  world,  I  can  now  see, 
thinks  I,  too,  am  suffering  from  some  mental 
aberration.  You  see  I  have  no  proof,  noth- 
ing to  show  for  my  statements.  People  don't 
189 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

believe  other  people's  word  in  matters  of  this 
kind;  you  must  show  them  evidence.  We 
get  that  from  card  playing,  I  dare  say;  it's 
not  what  we  say  we've  got,  it's  what  we  can 
show." 

"  I  believe  you,"  said  the  girl,  quietly  and 
simply.  "  You  would  never  have  to  show  me 
the  proofs  of  any  statement  you  might  wish 
to  make." 

Something  seemed  to  grip  Lorrimer  tightly 
inside.  He  had  a  second's  flash  of  a  strange 
exhilaration;  but  he  was  a  self-encouraged 
cynic  and  the  heartlift  lasted  but  the  twin- 
kling of  an  eye. 

"  Why  do  you  say  that?  "  he  asked  after  a 
pause,  with  a  very  apparent  effort  to  conceal 
the  suspicion  in  his  voice. 

"  Because  women  trust  their  intuitions, 
their  instincts — their  almost  infallible  *  guard- 
ian voice  ' — the  little  oracle  that  they  pos- 
sess, whether  in  their  hearts  or  minds,  I  know 
not.  But  mine  never  played  me  false.  I 
don't  think  you  ever  told  a  lie." 

"Oh,  yes,  I  have;  I  dare  say,"  Lorrimer 
faltered,  much  confused,  again  quenching  a 
190 


THE    INTERVIEW 


peculiar  surge  of  feeling  that  choked  his  eyes 
and  throat,  "  I've  told  a  great  many." 

"  Oh,  no,  you  haven't,"  contradicted  Elsie. 
"  Lies  are  things  that  destroy  and  hurt.  I 
know  if  you  met  my  father — he  would  give 
you  the  same  feeling  of  trust  that  you  give 
me.  Won't  you  help  me  find  him?  Won't 
you  meet  him  and  talk  with  him?  Per- 
haps with  something  that  he  might  tell  you, 
and  something  I  might  be  able  to  tell 
also — for  I  have  had  a  remarkable  experi- 
ence myself — we  may  all  help  one  another. 
I  seem  very  calm,  I  know ;  but,  oh,  Mr.  Lor- 
rimer,  if  you  only  could  understand  how  I 
am  suffering — won't  you  help  me — won't 
you  believe?  " 

Lorrimer  again  found  relief  from  his 
mingled  feelings  in  rather  stiff  politeness. 
His  impulse  was  to  extend  his  hand,  to  take 
hers  and  bend  over  it;  but  instead  he  bowed 
from  his  shoulders,  not  from  his  waist — that 
is,  from  his  mind,  not  from  his  heart. 

"  I'll  do  everything  I  can,  Miss  Marston; 
everything  I  can !  Now,  let's  see.  How  had 
we  better  begin?  " 

191 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

The  bell  of  the  telephone  on  the  roll-top 
desk  in  the  corner  trilled  excitedly. 

"  Will  you  pardon  me?  "  he  asked,  rising. 

Miss  Marston  smiled  somewhat  wanly  and 
watched  him  cross  the  room  and  lift  the  re- 
ceiver. The  rasping,  unintelligible  sputter  of 
the  transmitted  voice  sounded  for  half  a 
minute.  Elsie  started  to  go  to  the  door,  but 
Lorrimer  detained  her  with  a  gesture. 

"  Very  good,"  said  he  at  last,  speaking  into 
the  instrument;  "  I'll  be  there  at  once."  He 
turned  to  the  girl  quickly. 

"  Miss  Marston,"  he  said,  "  your  father 
is  at  the  Central  Office — at  Police  Head- 
quarters." 

"The  police!"  gasped  the  girl.  "Oh, 
poor  father!  What  must  he  think!  " 

"  I  shall  call  a  carriage,  Miss  Marston; 
and,  if  you  will  accompany  me,  we  will  go 
down  there.  They  say  your  father  is  not 
ill — but  never  mind  what  they  say — we'll  go 
down  there." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  the  girl  simply.  "  You 
are  very  kind." 

But  Lorrimer  felt  frightened  now.  As  he 
192 


THE    INTERVIEW 


had  looked  at  her,  he  had  seen  that  her  eyes 
were  filled  with  tears.  A  woman's  tears,  in 
Lorrimer's  opinion,  were  only  means  of  ob- 
taining unfair  advantage  of  a  man,  so  he 
stepped  quickly  into  the  hall,  beyond  their 
immediate  influence. 

"  Judson,"  cried  he,  "  call  me  a  carriage 
immediately.  I  may  not  be  back  till  late." 

This  time  Judson  was  hard  put  to  it  to 
conceal  his  open  anxiety.  His  features,  how- 
ever, did  not  outwardly  change,  although  he 
felt  he  was  inwardly  blushing. 

"  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  said  Miss  Marston, 
again  seating  herself,  "  we  must  engage  the 
very  best  of  detectives." 

"Detectives!     Ha,  ha!     Detectives!" 

Her  host's  voice  rose  and  died  away  in  a 
laugh  of  subdued  derision.  Then,  bending 
forward,  he  whispered  to  her  slowly,  as  if 
imparting  a  mock  secret — known  to  the 
world  at  large. 

"  If  I  ever  wanted  not  to  find  out  any- 
thing, I'd  send  for  a  detective — that,  believe 
me!" 

Miss  Marston  was  a  little  confused. 
193 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

-"  I  meant  well,"  she  faltered.  "  I  had  no 
idea " 

"  Of  course  you  meant  well,  my  dear 
young  lady;  you  could  never  mean  other- 
wise than  well,  I  am  quite  sure.  .  .  .  De- 
tectives " — Lorrimer  closed  his  eyes  as  if 
reading  a  page  from  memory — "  are  the  most 
intelligent,  enlightened,  farseeing,  and  infal- 
libly wise  people  that  " — he  paused — "  that 
ever  appeared  in  storybooks.  But  in  real 
life  "  (here  he  opened  his  eyes  and  looked 
full  into  Miss  Marston's),  "  if  you  want  to 
meet  a  crass,  self-conceited,  skeptical  ignora- 
mus, send  for  a  detective.  I  wouldn't  waste 
two  minutes  of  my  valuable  time  talking  to 
any  one  of  them.  They  see  evil  in  every- 
thing, except  sometimes  in  the  right  direc- 
tion! A  man's  word,  a  gentleman's  honor, 
nothing,  nothing !  They  and  the  lawyers  are 
alike — '  Proof,  proof !  '  they  cry  together. 
Pah !  that  for  the  pack  of  them !  "  As  he 
spoke,  with  a  toss  of  his  arms  Lorrimer  had 
begun  again  to  pace  the  floor. 

Miss  Marston  had  watched  the  beginning 
of  the  unexpected  outburst  with  some  anxiety. 
194 


THE    INTERVIEW 


"  Well,"  she  faltered,  "  a  friend  of  mine 
married  a  reporter.  They  say  that  writers 
and  reporters  are  clever  at  finding  out  and 
solving  things." 

"  They  invent  them !  "  said  Lorrimer, 
halting  in  front  of  her.  "  No  wonder  they 
can  solve  them !  But,  mind  you,  stranger 
things  occur  than  ever  take  place  in  their 
imagination.  This  little  mystery  of  mine 
will  never  be  solved  by  detectives  or  penny- 
a-liners,  or  lawyers,  for  that  matter!  It's 
outside  the  province  of  the  first  and  outside 
the  comprehension  of  the  latter.  It  is  ex 
lex  entirely.  It  will  require  a  combination 
of  brains  and  talent  and  common  sense 
and " 

"A  woman  is  often  very  clever,"  suggested 
Elsie  thoughtfully.  "  I  mean  when  things 
are  outside  the  law.  Don't  you  know  one 
you  could  go  to?  " 

"  Not  one,"  replied  Lorrimer  brusquely. 
"  I  never  made  confidantes  of  women.  I 
never  had  the  time,"  he  added,  as  if  to  make 
amends  for  any  rudeness. 

"  Oh,  I  see,"  said  Miss  Marston  un- 
195 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

abashed.  "  I  am  sure  they  could  have  made 
a  confidant  of  you."  She  paused,  thought  a 
moment,  and  then  suddenly  rose  with  an  evi- 
dent intention  of  holding  back  the  excitement 
that  lay  behind  her  words. 

"There's  my  father!"  she  exclaimed. 
"  The  very  person !  Never  was  there  such 
a  man  to  follow  out  the  thread  of  a  clew  to 
the  very  end  of  all  knowledge  to  be  gained 
concerning  it.  It  is  a  faculty  that  has  as  yet 
brought  him  neither  much  honor  nor  money, 
but  some  day  it  will.  His  works  on  the 
Ramayana  and  his  discoveries  in  relation  to 
the  Svetasvataraupanishad,  and  his  transla- 
tions of  the  Puranas  will  be  read  some  day 
by  scholars.  He  has  given  years  to  this  un- 
rewarded labor.  From  little  threads  of 
clews. 

"  The  Svetasvataraupanishad  and  the  Pu- 
ranas! "  Lorrimer  echoed  the  words  and  paid 
no  attention  to  the  rest  of  the  sentence.  His 
pronunciation,  by  the  way,  was  quite  as  glib 
as  Miss  Marston's  (and  she  might  have  been 
saying  "  cat  "  or  "  rat,"  for  that  matter) . 
"  Why,  Hindoo  literature  was  my  hobby  long 
196 


THE    1XTERV IEW 


before  I  took  to  etching  and  photography! 
I  wish  I  had  stuck  to  it,"  he  added.  "  I  wish 
I  had  never  given  it  up!  I  wouldn't  be  in 
this  position  now !  " 

"  The  carriage  is  ready,  sir,"  said  Judson 
from  down  the  hall. 

"The  Svetasvataraupam'shad !  "  repeated 
Lorrimer,  as  he  bundled  into  his  coat. 
"Why,  who  would  have  thought  of  that! 
Miss  Marston,  I  am  exceedingly  anxious  to 
meet  your  father — exceedingly  anxious  in- 
deed! " 

As  he  gave  her  his  hand  to  assist  her  down 
the  slippery  steps,  he  pressed  hers  warmly. 
It  seemed  to  him  for  a  moment  that  there 
was  a  little  fluttering  response.  Now,  strange 
to  say,  this  alarmed  him  again.  After  they 
had  entered  the  carriage  his  enthusiasm  ap- 
parently left  him. 

"  We  might  have  gone  down  by  the  Ele- 
vated, if  I  had  thought  of  it,"  he  said  at 
last,  breaking  the  silence.  "  Or  the  Subway." 

"Yes,  why  didn't  you  think  of  it?" 
asked  the  girl  pleasantly. 

"  It  never  occurred  to  me,"  said  Lorrimer. 
197 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"Oh!"  said  Miss  Marston.  "Would 
you  mind  telling  me  those  deductions  you 
thought  of  keeping  to  yourself  some  time 
ago?" 

"  Those  deductions,"  returned  Lorrimer 
emphatically,  "  have  vanished!  I  must  have 
been  as  strange-minded  as  a — well — as  a 
detective." 


198 


CHAPTER    XII 

A   TROUBLESOME   DOUBLE 

|Y  the  time  the  carnage  drew  up  in 
front  of  No.  300  Mulberry  Street, 
Lorrimer  had  determined  upon  a 
line  of  action.  It  had  flashed  across  his  mind 
during  the  drive,  that  some  years  before  he 
had  met  an  official  high  in  police  circles  for 
whom  he  had  been  able  to  do  a  favor,  but  to 
save  his  life  he  could  not  at  the  moment  re- 
member his  name.  However,  he  knew  that, 
if  he  could  ascertain  it  by  judicious  question- 
ing, he  was  sure  to  have  a  powerful  friend  at 
court.  Luck  favored  him.  As  he  entered  the 
bleak  hallway  of  the  building,  a  short,  wiry 
figure  came  out  of  one  of  the  offices,  and  even 
before  Mr.  Lorrimer  had  spoken  he  had 
been  recognized.  As  often  happens,  the  miss- 
ing name  came  to  him  without  an  effort — 
"  Inspector  Walter  Hudson !  " 

"  Ah,    Mr.    Lorrimer !  "    the    latter    ex- 
199 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

claimed  pleasantly,  as  his  keen  eyes  lifted 
with  a  glance  of  welcome,  "  what  are  you 
doing  here?  " 

"  I've  come  down  to  see  you,  inspector," 
said  Lorrimer,  a  most  pleasurable  sensation 
coming  over  him  as  he  saw  there  was  no 
suspicion  of  his  motives,  or  his  sanity,  in  this 
particular  official's  mind.  "  You  are  the  very 
man  that  can  help  me  in  a  little  matter." 

"  Good,"  was  the  cheery  reply.  "  Lady 
with  you?  " 

"  Yes." 

"Anything  to  do  with  the  case?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Come  right  into  my  office." 

Miss  Marston  followed  to  the  end  of  the 
hall,  where  the  inspector  opened  a  door  and 
ushered  her'  and  Lorrimer  into  a  high-ceil- 
inged  room,  comfortably  furnished  with  one 
or  two  desks  and  some  framed  photo  enlarge- 
ments of  heavy-mustached  gentlemen  of  semi- 
military  cast  of  countenance. 

"  Here's  where  we  give  'em  the  third  de- 
gree," said  Mr.  Hudson.  "  But  I'm  going  to 
let  you  do  all  the  talking  this  time.  What 
200 


A    TROUBLESOME    DOUBLE 

can  I  do  for  you  ?  By  the  way,  I  don't  think 
I  ever  quite  thanked  you  enough  for  arran- 
ging that  shooting  trip  for  me.  Nice  little 
clubhouse  you've  got  up  there  in  the  woods. 
You  don't  go  there  very  often?" 

"  No,  haven't  been  there  for  years,"  said 
Lorrimer.  "  But,  to  business — I've  come 
down  here  to  see  what  can  be  done  in  the 
way  of  rectifying  a  mistake.  An  old  gentle- 
man by  the  name  of  Marston,  through  an 
error,  probably  mine,  has  been  accused  of 
connection  with  the  supposed  disappearance 
of  some — er — property.  As  the  property 
was  mine  and  I  am  now  firmly  convinced  that 
he  had  nothing  whatsoever  to  do  with  it,  I 
should  like  to  know  how  best  to  go  about 
obtaining  his  release." 

"  Have  you  made  any  complaint  against 
him  ?  If  so,  you  will  have  to  withdraw  it  in 
court  to-morrow,  I'm  afraid." 

"  No,  inspector,  I've  made  no  complaint, 
nor  do  I,  nor  anyone  else,  intend  to  make 
any.  He  was  brought  down  here  under  a 
misapprehension.  I  just  received  a  telephone 
message  in  regard  to  the  matter." 
u  201 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  Oh,  yes;  oh,  yes;  of  course,"  mused  the 
inspector.  "An  old  man  by  the  name  of 
Marston.  He  persuaded  my  clerk  to  send  a 
telephone  message  to  you  for  him.  I  really 
did  not  notice  much  about  him  at  the  time; 
he  sensibly  refused  to  talk  for  the  reporters; 
but  I  believe  he  is  just  held  here  on  suspicion. 
He's  at  the  station  house  down  on  the  street. 
Want  to  see  him?  " 

Never  in  his  life  had  Lorrimer  appreci- 
ated the  potentiality  of  that  comprehensive 
word,  a  "  pull."  He  caught  Miss  Marston's 
glance.  Her  eyes  were  filled  with  a  mingled 
expression  of  gratitude,  wonder,  and  admira- 
tion. 

"  We'll  have  him  here  in  five  minutes," 
said  the  inspector,  and,  pressing  a  bell,  he 
launched  forth  in  a  story  of  last  spring's 
trout  fishing. 

It  was  less  than  five  minutes  when  a  police 
officer  appeared — the  palefaced  old  guardian 
accompanying  him.  Before  Mr.  Marston 
could  utter  a  word  to  express  his  astonish- 
ment at  seeing  his  daughter  in  such  mys- 
terious and  unexpected  company,  Lorrimer 
202 


A     TROUBLESOME    DOUBLE 

grasped  him  by  the  hand  and  burst  into  the 
most  profuse  apologies. 

"  Such  a  grievous  and  unpardonable  mis- 
take, my  dear  friend !  "  he  exclaimed.  "And 
to  think  that  I,  indirectly,  should  have  been 
the  cause  of  it!  What  could  those  stupid 
dolts  have  been  thinking  of — blundering, 
asinine  idiots!  " 

"  What  is  the  charge  against  this  gentle- 
man, McGuire?  "  asked  the  inspector  shortly, 
turning  to  the  policeman. 

"  There  is  no  charge  at  all,  sir.  I  was 
thinking  it  was  one  of  Detective  Sergeant 
O'Sullivan's  brilliant  moves.  We  was  to 
hold  the  prisoner  as  a  suspicious  person. 
Some  connection  with  a  bank  robbery,  so  he 
said — been  no  report  of  it !  We  couldn't 
make  head  nor  tail  of  it!  " 

"  You  can  rest  assured,  inspector,"  put  in 
Lorrimer  quietly,  "  that  the  whole  thing  was 
a  mistake.  There  was  no  bank  robbery.  Put 
it  down  as  a  cruel  hoax,  if  you  wish  to.  No 
charge  will  ever  be  made  against  this  gentle- 
man. If  there  is,  I  shall  be  responsible  for 
his  appearance  at  any  court,  at  any  time.  If 
203 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

necessary,  I  shall  go  his  bail  to  any  amount. 
And  now,  as  a  favor,  I  shall  ask  that  he  be 
allowed  to  depart  with  me." 

Mr.  Marston's  conduct  under  these  pecul- 
iarly mysterious  and  trying  circumstances 
was  no  longer  under  his  own  control,  for 
Elsie  had  taken  her  father  to  a  corner  of  the 
room,  where,  with  both  her  hands  on  his 
shoulders,  she  was  calming  him  and  directing 
him  in  short,  breathless  whispers. 

"Hush,"  she  kept  saying;  "hush,  don't 
say  a  word !  It  has  been  a  great  mistake ! 
Don't  speak  at  all — please,  please !  Let  him 
arrange  everything." 

In  five  minutes  Mr.  Marston  had  con- 
fusedly shaken  hands  with  the  inspector, 
politely  declined  one  of  his  cigars,  and  had 
entered  the  closed  carriage  with  his  daughter 
and  his  unhoped-for  friend  and  ally.  And 
there  the  old  gentleman  did  a  perfectly  nat- 
ural thing  for  one  whose  nerves,  during  the 
last  twenty-four  hours,  had  been  under  the 
severest  strain — he  burst  into  tears  of  relief. 
Then  suddenly  he  grew  suspicious. 

"What  does  it  all  mean?"  he  asked. 
204 


A     TROUBLESOME    DOUBLE 

"  Where  are  you  taking  me?  I'm  perfectly 
sane,  I'm  not  mad!  " 

"  No,  no,  dear,"  replied  his  daughter, 
"  we  know  you're  not !  " 

She  turned  to  Lorrimer. 

"  Where  are  we?  "  she  asked  all  at  once, 
as  the  carriage  stopped. 

"At  the  Bleecker  Street  Subway  station, 
Miss  Marston.  I  think  it  best  to  get  you 
both  home  as  soon  as  possible  and,  if  you  will 
allow  me,  I  will  accompany  you." 

The  responsibility  of  the  conduct  of  affairs 
now  resting  upon  him  gave  to  Lorrimer  a 
feeling  of  masterful  calm. 

"  Courage,  dear,"  said  the  girl  to  her 
father,  as  they  left  the  carriage  and  waited 
at  the  bottom  of  the  station  steps;  "  we  won't 
talk  anything  about  it  till  we  get  home.  Yes, 
yes;  it's  all  very  wonderful — very  hard  to 
understand,  I  know;  but  it  all  will  come 
right " 

In  half  an  hour  the  strange  group  of  three 

were  seated  in  the  front  room  of  the  little 

apartment.     Although  still  very  nervous,  the 

old  man's   mind   was   clear,    and   Lorrimer 

205 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

could  not  disguise  the  truth  to  himself  that 
he  now  felt  more  comfortable  and  at  ease 
than  he  had  at  any  time  for  the  past  week — 
he  was  strengthened,  exhilarated.  His  eyes 
followed  Miss  Marston  as  she  brought  out 
from  the  back  room  a  tray  laden  with  bis- 
cuits and  a  neat  little  blue  china  tea  set. 

"  Now,"  said  she,  "  we've  all  held  to  our 
contract:  we  haven't  spoken  of  our  trou- 
bles ;  and  we've  got  a  long,  long  talk  before 
us."  She  kissed  her  father's  forehead  and 
smoothed  back  his  hair.  "  So  I  move  we 
listen  to  Mr.  Lorrimer's  story  first,  and  then 
we  will  follow  in  our  turn.  That  is  the  best 
way.  Now,"  she  turned  to  their  guest. 
"Please?"  she  said. 

Never  did  anyone  have  two  such  attentive 
listeners.  There  was  not  a  single  interrup- 
tion, not  a  word  said  until  he  had  finished. 
Then  and  there  Lorrimer  rehearsed  to  them, 
to  their  sympathetic  and  believing  ears,  the 
whole  of  the  series  of  remarkable  events  that 
he  had  told  to  his  skeptical  and  flaw-picking 
legal  adviser  and  to  the  doubting  Thomases 
of  the  sleuth-hounding  profession. 
206 


A     TROUBLESOME    DOUBLE 

Odd  to  relate,  two  or  three  times  Miss 
Marston  (who  was  now  listening  for  the  sec- 
ond time)  made  a  few  little  notes  with  a  lead 
pencil  on  the  corner  of  the  writing  pad  she 
had  picked  up  from  the  desk.  Her  father, 
his  eyes  intent  on  Lorrimer's  face,  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  his  own  nervousness  in  his 
breathless  interest. 

"A  strange  story,  sir,"  said  he  at  the 
finish.  "A  strange  story!  But  I  think  mine 
will  equal  it.  If  you  will  allow  me  to  begin, 
I  shall  be  both  relieved  and  grateful." 

Lorrimer  nodded.  Elsie  moved  up  closer, 
her  hand  on  the  back  of  her  father's  chair. 

"  Now  tell  us  everything,"  she  said  softly. 


207 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE    SHADES   OF    KRISHNA 

|OU  know,  when  you  left  me,  child," 
began  Mr.  Marston  slowly,  "  you 
made  me  half  promise  that  I  would 
not  go  to  the  office.  I  fully  intended  to 
disobey  you !  I  made  up  my  mind  to  rest 
a  little  and  then  to  start  down-town  at  my 
usual  hour.  Just  before  I  fell  asleep — I'd 
been  reading  Monier-Williams's  method  of 
Hindoo  transliteration,  exceedingly  clever  it 
is,  too ! — I  turned  out  the  light.  But  I  soon 
awoke  from  what  appeared  to  be  a  most  hor- 
rible nightmare !  I  dreamed  that  I  was  lying 
in  a  vast  temple  filled  with  a  strange  and 
overpowering  incense.  Sinking  beneath  its 
influence  I  was  brought  out  and  placed  in  the 
track  of  the  relentless  car  of  Juggernaut — I 
was  helpless,  lying  in  its  path!  Shuddering 
as  I  awoke,  I  endeavored  to  open  my  eyes,  and 
208 


THE    SHADES    OF    KRISHNA 

when  I  succeeded,  could  see  nothing,  nothing ! 
I  remember  trying  to  shriek,  but  my  mouth 
was  filled  with  some  soft  substance ;  my  hands 
were  tied  beside  me,  my  legs  also  were  bound. 
I  might  have  been  in  my  coffin,  prepard  for 
lowering  into  the  grave." 

The  old  man  shook  as  if  chilled  to  the 
bone.  His  daughter  uttered  a  half-stifled  cry. 
Then  there  was  a  silence.  Mr.  Lorrimer's 
starched  shirt  front  creaked  under  the  ve- 
hemence of  his  rapid  breathing. 

"At  last,"  Mr.  Marston  said,  speaking 
slowly  and  hoarsely,  "  by  a  supreme  effort  I 
managed  to  shake  off  what  seemed  to  be  a 
film  from  before  my  eyes,  or,  properly  speak- 
ing, from  one  eye.  Above  my  head  I  saw 
clearly  something  that  told  me  where  I  was." 

"  What  was  it?  "  ejaculated  Lorrimer. 

"  You  know  the  stain  in  the  ceiling  of  my 
little  back  room,  directly  over  the  bed, 
Elsie?"  continued  Mr.  Marston.  "There 
it  was.  I  was  next  door  to  where  we  are  sit- 
ting now.  I  could  hear  the  rush  of  the 
Elevated  train  on  the  near-by  avenue,  I  could 
even  recognize  the  creak  of  the  pulley  of  the 
209 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

washline  as  the  wind  swayed  it.  The  clock 
in  the  kitchen  struck  and  told  me  it  was  the 
hour  I  should  be  getting  down  to  the  bank. 
I  essayed  to  rise,  but,  struggle  and  twist  and 
turn,  I  could  accomplish  nothing,  although 
the  bed  groaned  mightily.  The  fear  that  I 
was  paralyzed  I  overcame  by  flexing  the 
muscles  of  my  limbs ;  and  now  I  brought  my 
reasoning  powers  to  bear  upon  the  situation. 
Never  was  I  more  sane  than  I  am  at  the 
present  moment;  never  was  I  more  sane  and 
awake  than  I  was  then!  /  was  bound  hand 
and  foot!  Carefully,  marvelously  bound! 
Even  my  head  was  prevented  from  turning 
more  than  an  inch  or  so,  and  I  was  gagged — 
skillfully  gagged,  for  I  could  but  moan 
softly.  A  window  appeared  to  be  open  and  I 
could  scent  the  cold  evening  air  that  was  yet 
permeated  with  the  strange,  half-sickening 
fumes  that  had  signalized  my  dream.  Ex- 
hausted by  fear  and  struggling,  and  by  my 
attempt  to  keep  my  reason,  I  fainted  or  fell 
asleep  again.  Oh,  the  comfort  and  rest  that 
I  experienced  in  being  able  to  do  so — the 
sense  of  security  I  had  in  being  able  to  put 
210 


THE    SHADES    OF    KRISHNA 

away  the  outside  and  insistent  terror.  I  rev- 
eled in  the  relaxation  of  semiconsciousness. 
As  a  soldier,  safe  in  some  stenching  hole  on 
the  firing  line,  might  be  grateful  for  the  fact 
that  he  could  escape  in  slumber  the  pressure 
of  reality,  I  rested  quietly.  I  woke  two  or 
three  times,  only  to  faint  away  again." 

Mr.  Marston  paused  and  leaned  back  in  his 
chair;  Elsie  brought  him  a  glass  of  water, 
and  as  she  placed  her  arms  again  about  his 
shoulders,  she  caught  Lorrimer's  glance.  A 
thrill  of  sympathy  passed  between  them. 

"'Don't  you  wish  to  rest  a  little  now?" 
asked  Mr.  Lorrimer. 

"  No,  let  me  go  on,"  begged  the  old  man; 
"  let  me  finish.  Daughter  of  mine,  I  ask 
you  " — he  paused — "  and  our  dear,  kind 
friend  here,  to  believe  that  I  speak  the  truth. 
I  woke  for  the  third  or  fourth  time  to  hear 
whispering — subdued  and  earnest,  close-to 
whispering — from  the  foot  of  my  bed.  I 
moaned  for  help,  and  then  I  saw,  coming  into 
the  range  of  the  vision  of  my  one  helpful  eye 
—Myself! " 

Lorrimer  started.  Elsie  grasped  her 
211 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

father  convulsively  and  laid  her  cheek  against 
his. 

"Dearie,  dearie!"  she  said  soothingly, 
"don't,  don't!" 

"  It  was  myself!  My  own  clothes,  my 
look — even  the  red  flannel  bandage  that  you 
saturated  with  liniment  and  put  out  for  me  to 
wear  about  my  throat — It  had  that  on!  I 
faintly  discerned  another  figure — only  a 
glimpse  I  got  of  it,  shrouded  and  muffled  be- 
hind my  own.  I  am  calm,  dear,  I  am  col- 
lected; let  me  continue.  The  figure  that  was 
me  bent  over,  and  moving  a  hand,  it  was  as 
if  a  veil  had  again  hidden  my  sight.  Once 
more  the  insidious  odor  crept  into  my  nos- 
trils, filled  my  revolting  lungs.  It  seemed  as 
if  I  was  in  the  hands  of  Wama,  and  was  de- 
scending into  Krishna,  into  the  parching, 
pressing,  torturing  inferno  of  Vishnu !  " 

Lorrimer's  hands  gripped  tightly.  Well 
did  he  know  the  punishments  of  the  ancient 
book  outlined  in  the  doctrines  of  Manu !  He 
could  follow  the  old  man's  reasoning.  He 
longed  to  question  him.  The  suggestion  of 
the  occult  phenomenon  was  strong  and  mas- 
212 


The  figure  that  was  me  bent  over.' 


THE    SHADES    OF    KRISHNA 

tering;  the  shuddering  nearness  of  the  unseen 
world  held  him  enthralled.  Miss  Marston 
cast  at  him  a  half-despairing  glance,  as  if 
taking  note  of  the  effect  of  this  strange  re- 
cital. 

"I  understand,"  said  Lorrimer  shortly; 
"  but  surely  Krishna  was  not  for  you !  " 

"  No,"  returned  old  Marston.  "  When 
once  more  I  could  feel  my  even  breathing  I 
soared  up,  up,  it  appeared  to  the  very  sum- 
mit of  Mount  Meru.  It  seemed  as  if  the  rich 
perfume  of  the  rose-colored  flowers  of  the 
Camalata  " — (well  did  Lorrimer  know  of 
the  Love's  Creeper  of  the  Indra's  heaven) 
— "  and  I  awoke !  "  concluded  old  Marston 
suddenly,  bringing  his  listeners  up  with  a  sud- 
den jerk  to  the  reality  of  their  surroundings. 
"  I  awoke,  sick,  with  a  splitting  headache. 
My  limbs  were  stiff,  but  I  was  unbound !  I 
leaped  out  of  bed.  The  window  was  closed. 
There  were  my  clothes  as  I  had  left  them — 
I  always  fold  them  neatly.  I  hurried  into 
them,  wondering  what  had  happened.  I 
judged  it  all  a  dream  until  I  came  to  put  on 

my  shoes,  and  then " 

213 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"Yes,  yes,"  ejaculated  Lorrimer,  as  the 
old  man  paused. 

" — They  were  soaking  wet — somebody 
had  been  wearing  them  since  I  had !  Never- 
theless, I  pulled  them  on  and  hurried  to  the 
bank  to  tell  my  story.  The  rest  you  know. 
...  I  tried  to  explain.  They  thought  me 
mad!  I  came  to  a  realization  of  that  fact 
while  the  carriage  was  on  the  way  to  Belle- 
vue,  for  I,  of  course,  overheard  the  conver- 
sation of  those  who  were  with  me.  So  I 
affected  to  throw  off  my  apparent  feigning 
and  asked  quietly  to  be  taken  to  the  police 
station  instead.  It  was  a  safer  place  than 
Bellevue !  I  said  something  about  divulging 
things  in  the  morning.  I  mentioned  that 
there  might  be  a  reward.  All  I  wanted  was 
to  escape  the  horrors  of  the  threatening  mad- 
house! That  is  my  story." 

As  Mr.  Marston  paused  he  heaved  a  sigh 
of  great  relief  and  looked  from  his  daugh- 
ter's face  to  that  of  Lorrimer. 

The  latter  was  deep  in  thought.  His  re- 
searches had  never  brought  him  into  contact 
with  any  of  the  actual  proofs  of  theosophic 
214 


THE    SHADES    OF    KRISHNA 

reasoning.  Could  here  be  an  example?  The 
robbery,  the  plates,  his  own  doubtful  posi- 
tion, faded  in  his  newly  awakened  interest. 

"  I  would  like  to  talk  to  you  further,"  he 
began,  as  if  trying  to  avoid  immediate  com- 
ment. "  You  say  you  were  reading " 

"  May  I,"  interrupted  Elsie  suddenly, 
"  now  tell  my  story,  before  we  go  into  ab- 
stract questions?  You  will  listen,  I  can 
promise,  if  I  once  begin." 

"  Then  pray  do  so,"  said  Lorrimer. 
"  Pray  begin  at  once." 


215 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE   MYSTERIOUS   PATIENT 

|OU  almost  forgot,"  said  Miss  Mar- 
ston,  in  her  low  musical  voice,  as  she 
lifted  her  eyes  to  Lorrimer's,  "  that 
I  had  something  to  tell  in  my  turn.  The  his- 
tory of  my  day  shall  be  a  short  one.  I 
answered  a  call  for  a  trained  nurse  in  Brook- 
lyn. You  remember,  father,  the  letter  with 
the  money  inclosed,  and  the  directions?  I 
found  the  house,  the  steps  of  which  had  been 
freshly  brushed  free  from  snow,  and  the  door 
was  opened  by  a  colored  woman  who  handed 
me  a  note  explaining  that  the  case  was  one 
of  brain  fever  and  that  the  doctor — the  name 
I  could  not  read — would  be  back  before  mid- 
night. Upstairs,  in  a  cold,  dusty,  closed-up 
room  with  a  small  fire  burning  in  a  small 
stove,  there  was  a  woman,  evidently  once 
handsome,  with  short-cropped  black  hair. 
216 


THE   MYSTERIOUS   PATIENT 

There  was  no  one  in  the  house  but  the  col- 
ored attendant,  who  apparently  was  deaf  and 
could  tell  me  nothing.  It  was  extremely  mys- 
terious. Although  the  patient  raved  slightly, 
I  thought  I  caught  a  look  of  sanity  at  times 
when  she  followed  me  with  her  eyes.  She  had 
no  high  temperature;  her  purse  was  almost 
normal.  It  was  unaccountable,  the  whole  af- 
fair. The  time  went  by  and  no  doctor  came. 
The  colored  woman  brought  some  food,  badly 
cooked  and  cold.  I  never  left  the  patient's 
bedside  all  that  day  or  night.  This  after- 
noon I  began  to  have  suspicions,  and,  taking 
advantage  of  a  moment  when  my  patient 
seemed  to  fall  asleep,  I  hurried  out,  heading 
for  a  chemist's  that  I  remembered  seeing  at 
the  corner,  intending  to  telephone  to  a  friend 
of  mine,  a  doctor,  to  come  over  and  investi- 
gate. I  fixed  the  lock  so  I  could  get  in  with- 
out ringing  on  my  return.  I  was  not  gone 
more  than  twenty-five  minutes.  (I  had  been 
unfortunate  in  not  finding  anybody  on  the 
'phone.)  When  I  entered  the  house,  it  was 
empty !  Upstairs  in  the  bedroom  there  were 
no  signs  that  the  bed  had  been  occupied;  even 
15  217 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

the  sheets  and  blankets  had  been  removed 
and  the  pillows  were  uncased.  In  a  closet 
were  the  bedclothes,  folded.  I  called  down 
the  hallway;  no  one  answered.  Perplexed 
and  fearful,  I  made  inquiries  next  door.  A 
woman  told  me  that  the  house  had  been 
vacant  until  the  morning  of  the  day  before, 
when  "  a  lady  and  gentleman,"  accompanied 
by  a  colored  servant  and  the  agent,  who 
lived  not  far  down  the  street,  had  driven  up 
to  inspect  it. 

I  found  the  agent's  office,  but  it  was  closed. 
So  I  went  back  to  the  house,  hoping  to  find 
a  policeman  on  the  way,  but  I  met  no  one. 
It  took  all  my  courage  to  enter;  but  I  did. 
I  stood  in  the  hallway  shivering,  undeter- 
mined what  to  do. 

"  Now,  why  the  desire  for  flight  came  upon 
me  I  cannot  tell,  but  a  minute  or  so  of  this 
growing  fright  and  the  loneliness  of  my  posi- 
tion in  that  dust-laden,  ill-ventilated,  locked- 
up  place  bore  upon  me.  I  could  not  stand 
it.  I  went  up  to  the  room ;  the  fire  was  out, 
the  ashes  removed.  I  packed  up  my  things 
hastily  and  descended  the  stairs,  intending  to 
218 


THE   MYSTERIOUS   PATIENT 

wait  in  the  small,  unkempt  front  yard. 
When  I  reached  the  hallway  I  perceived  that 
a  draught  came  from  somewhere,  and,  look- 
ing back,  I  saw  that  the  rear  door  was  partly 
open.  I  could  not  help  it !  The  desire  for 
air,  for  freedom,  for  the  actual,  controlled 
me.  The  door  opened  on  a  small  piazza 
from  which  steps  led  down  to  a  pathway 
through  the  ugly  little  back  yard.  There 
were  a  number  of  footprints  in  the  snow — a 
man's  among  them !  Above  the  top  of  the 
fence  I  could  see  a  trolley  car  slide  by.  In 
an  instant  I  was  at  the  gate.  That  too  was 
open.  It  closed  with  a  click  behind  me. 
Before  an  hour  had  passed  I  was  home,  tele- 
phoning for  you,  dear  father,  to  tell  you  my 
strange  story." 

Mr.  Marston  was  now  searching  with 
puzzled  eyes  his  daughter's  face  as  she  leaned 
over  him.  An  appealing  glance  turned  in 
Lorrimer's  direction. 

"  Are  we  all  bewitched?  "  he  said  at  last. 

"  We  must  sift  this  matter,"  returned  Lor- 
rimer.  "  We  must  help  each  other.  We 
seem  bound  together  in  the  toils  of  mystery. 
219 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

But  what  you  said  a  moment  since,  Mr. 
Marston,  about  the  Brahman  soloka  appeals 
to  me.  I  too  have  been  a  student  of  ancient 
Vedic  literature  and  the  Puranas,  per- 
haps  " 

"  Come,  Mr.  Lorrimer,"  interrupted 
Elsie,  "  let  us  indulge  in  no  mystic  reason- 
ing. We  will  begin  our  sifting  by  mundane 
investigations.  Let  us  look  at  the  next 
room." 

She  led  the  way,  her  father  and  Lorrimer 
close  behind  her.  Turning  up  the  light,  they 
all  paused  together.  Some  of  the  belongings 
were  scattered  about;  the  disordered  bedding 
trailed  off  on  the  floor.  A  sheet  hung  in 
shreds  and  strands  over  the  foot  of  the  brass 
bedstead. 

"Smell!"  cried  Miss  Marston,  grasping 
Lorrimer's  arm.  She  was  sniffing,  her  head 
thrown  back,  her  nostrils  dilated. 

"  I  smell  nothing,"  said  he. 

Miss    Marston's    grasp    tightened.      She 

pulled  him  down  toward  her  and  her  voice 

sank  to  a  thrilling  whisper.     Mr.  Marston 

had  gone  over  to  the  window  that  opened  on 

220 


THE   MYSTERIOUS   PATIENT 

the  fire  escape  and  was  opening  it  as  if  to 
air  the  room,  that  was  close  and  stuffy. 

"Don't  you  smell  it?"  she  asked.  Her 
tones  made  his  flesh  creep;  they  suggested 
some  uncanny  presence  that  he  could  not 
realize. 

"  What  is  it?  "  he  asked,  his  voice  sinking 
also. 

Miss  Marston's  lips  were  almost  at  his 
ear. 

"  Chloroform !  "  she  whispered. 

The  old  man  had  come  back  and  had 
picked  up  the  torn  fragments  of  the  sheet  in 
his  hands.  His  eyes  were  elate  with  the  joy 
of  a  discovery. 

The  suggestion  of  the  occult  faded  before 
the  presence  of  the  tangible. 

Lorrimer,  when  he  left  the  house  some 
minutes  later,  thought  he  saw  a  tall  figure  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  street  draw  back  into 
the  shadow  of  a  doorway.  It  had  begun  to 
rain,  and,  as  he  had  no  umbrella,  he  started 
on  a  fast  walk  to  the  corner.  There  he 
stopped  and  looked  over  his  shoulder.  There 
221 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

was  no  one  in  sight  but  a  drunken  man,  who 
reeled  limply  toward  the  glaring  door  of  a 
saloon.  Before  Lorrimer  went  to  bed  that 
night  he  took  a  glimpse  out  of  the  window. 
Yes,  sure  enough,  there  was  a  tall  figure 
standing  before  the  house  looking  up  at  the 
windows.  Hurrying  into  some  clothes  he 
rushed  downstairs  and  peered  cautiously  out 
through  the  front  door.  The  only  thing  to 
be  seen  was  a  cab  wabbling  along  through 
the  slushy  street. 


222 


CHAPTER    XV 

NEW   DEPARTURES 

|  HE  Tourraine  was  discharging  her 
pilot.  The  distant  shores  of  Long 
Island  and  the  low-lying  New  Jer- 
sey coast  gleamed  in  the  morning  sunshine. 
The  crowds  lining  the  rail  on  the  promenade 
deck  watched  the  boat  put  off  from  the 
steamer's  side.  With  a  quiver  from  her  great 
engines,  the  steamship  gathered  headway. 

Walking  up  and  down  the  deck  were  a 
man  and  a  woman.  The  former,  in  a  fash- 
ionable gray  ulster  and  a  smart  plaid  steamer 
cap,  had  an  air  of  jaunty  prosperity;  the 
woman,  dressed  in  a  long  blue  coat,  might 
at  first  glance  have  been  taken  for  a  travel- 
ing schoolma'am.  Her  hair  was  short,  she 
wore  spectacles,  and  had  on  an  unbecoming 
Fedora  with  an  elastic  back  of  her  ears.  Her 
face  was  strong  and  keen,  her  features  regu- 
223 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

lar,  and  her  eyes,  despite  the  spectacles,  were 
bold  and  handsome.  Occasionally,  beneath 
the  long  blue  coat,  showed  natty  patent-leather 
shoes  with  large  silk  bows. 

The  forward  part  of  the  deck  was  almost 
deserted.  As  the  couple  reached  the  rail  the 
woman  turned  to  her  companion. 

"  Sam,"  she  said,  "  let's  have  another  look 
at  you." 

With  a  smile  on  his  fresh,  vigorous  face, 
he  stood  confronting  her. 

"Like  the  effect?"  he  asked. 

"What  did  you  do  with  it?"  asked  the 
woman.  "  Upon  my  soul,  I'm  ashamed  to 
be  seen  with  you.  You  look  young  enough  to 
be  my  son." 

"  '  Younger  by  the  loss  of  a  beard,' " 
quoted  the  gentleman.  "  Who  would  have 
thought,  my  dear,  two  days  ago,  that  either 
of  us  could  have  looked  like  this?  Eh, 
what?" 

"  Well,  who'd  have  thought  we'd  be  where 
we  are  now?  " 

"  You  mean,  where  we  are  going!  "  broke 
in  the  man.  "  Hurrah  for  gay  Paree ! 
224 


NEW    DEPARTURES 


Maisie,"  he  added  suddenly,  "  you're  a 
sight!" 

"Oh,  quit!"  said  the  woman  testily. 
"  Do  you  think  I  enjoy  looking  like  this? 
Come,  let's  go  down  to  the  stateroom.  I 
feel  cold  without  my  wig.  Yes,  I  know  what 
I  look  like,  and  if  you're  a  gent,  you'll  let 
up." 

Taking  her  husband's  arm,  Mrs.  Reeder 
led  the  way  down  the  staircase  to  the  state- 
room and  closed  the  door  behind  them. 

"  How  long  do  you  think  we'll  have  to 
wait  over  there  before  Leon  joins  us?"  she 
asked.  "  Do  you  know,  I  have  a  feeling  that 
I'll  never  see  him  again." 

"Oh,  it's  Leon  now,  is  it?"  smiled  Mr. 
Reeder.  "  Tut,  tut — I  suppose  I  ought  to 
be  jealous.  He'll  be  over  in  about  a  month. 
Wasn't  that  it?  And  he'll  bring  the  plates 
with  him.  He  won't  stay  in  America  longer 
than  he  can  help.  There's  a  good  ten  years 
hanging  over  him  there.  We  will  most  prob- 
ably reorganize  and  do  the  job  from  Eng- 
land. Too  bad  we  had  to  give  old  Peters 
the  go-by.  He's  the  only  one  of  the  combine 
225 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

that  never  had  to  say :  '  Good  morning, 
judge.'  But  many  a  narrow  squeak  old  Pete 
has  had,  I  tell  you!" 

"  He  went  back  to  Chicago  with  money  in 
his  pocket,"  put  in  the  woman.  "  Things 
were  getting  too  complicated  to  let  every- 
body in  on  the  ground  floor.  He  thinks  the 
plates  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Pinkertons. 
Trust  him  for  lying  low  for  a  time." 

"  It  makes  me  mad  to  think  of  Red  get- 
ting himself  arrested  just  at  this  stage  of  the 
game,"  grumbled  Mr.  Reeder.  "  He  ought 
to  have  shown  more  consideration.  What  if 
he  peached  on  us?  " 

"  He  won't,  I  don't  think,  Sam." 

"  Sure,  it's  a  fine  cock-and-bull  story  the 
police  would  be  listening  to,  if  he  did.  Red 
doesn't  know  much  of  anything.  He  was 
only  hired  to  stand  by  and  do  as  we  told  him ! 
— to  be  a  good  dog — fetch  and  carry — 
1  Watch,'  '  down,  charge,'  and  *  sick  'em!  '  " 

"  Besides,"  took  up  the  woman,  "  he  broke 
his  contract  when  he  began  running  with  that 
cheap  holdup  gang — he  got  what  he  de- 
served. I  tell  you,  Sam,  it  was  quick  work 
226 


NEW    DEPARTURES 


on  Leon's  part — as  soon  as  he  found  that  Red 
had  got  in  a  row  on  his  own  account  and 
was  in  the  jug,  he  comes  over  to  Brooklyn 
to  see  how  the  sick  lady  was  getting  on. 
Phew !  I  tell  you,  Sam,  I  pretty  near  did 
have  brain  fever,  for  sure.  That  trained 
nurse,  the  old  man's  daughter,  was  beginning 
to  suspect  something.  Think  of  the  cheek  of 
us,  taking  possession  of  a  deserted  house  by 
the  back  way  and  setting  up  a  private  hospital 
of  our  own." 

"  Well,  we  had  to  get  rid  of  her  some- 
how." 

"  She  was  no  fool,  Sam.  She  was  a  clever 
little  peach,  for  fair.  Leon,  who  was  going 
to  play  the  doctor,  arrived  just  as  she  left — 
probably  to  call  in  a  copper  or  an  ambulance 
— and  he  exerted  a  mind  cure  on  me  that  just 
got  me  and  Emily  out  of  the  house  L.L.E.  in 
five  minutes." 

"Where  did  Emily  go?" 

"  She  went  back  to  Philadelphia.    He  had 
tickets  for  her,  same  as  he  had  tickets  for  us 
— her  route  was  laid  out.    She  went  where  he 
told  her,  same  as  we  did." 
227 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  '  Oh,  there  are  only  a  few  of  us  left,'  " 
hummed  Mr.  Reeder  in  the  words  of  a  popu- 
lar song.  "  You  and  me,  Maisie,  and  Quin- 
nie  White,  the  king  of  them  all;  and  we " 

Mrs.  Reeder's  face  suddenly  assumed  an 
expression  that  was  disconcerting. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  her  hus- 
band; "  forgotten  anything?  " 

"  No;  but  it's  true,  what  I  told  you,  Sam," 
said  Mrs.  Reeder,  half  despairingly. 

"What's  that,  Maisie?" 

"  I'm  a  bad  sailor,  Sam." 

"Well,  if  that's  so,  me — exit!  I  think 
I'll  go  up  and  see  what's  going  on  in  the 
smoking  room." 

"  Oh,  dear,"  moaned  Mrs.  Reeder,  as  the 
Tourraine  took  a  long  swing  to  starboard. 


228 


CHAPTER    XVI 

A    CONFERENCE 

|OU  see,  all  we've  had  to  do,"  said 
Elsie  Marston,  smiling  up  into 
Lorrimer's  face,  "  is  to  put  two 
and  one  together  and  call  it  three.  With  a 
judicious  use  of  what  you  called,  a  moment 
since,  '  constructive  imagination,'  we  find  our 
stories  agree  perfectly.  I'm  almost  inclined 
to  write  it  all  up,  supplying  the  other  side 

where  it  is  missing " 

"  No,  no,"  said  Lorrimer;  "  I  don't  want 
anything  ever  written  about  it.     If  the  news- 
papers got  hold  of  it,  they  might  find  out 
real  names,  make  fools  of  us,  and  spoil  the 
chance   of —    I'd  give  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  to  get  those  plates  back  and  hush  up 
the  whole  affair;  and  then — "     He  paused. 
"  Yes;  and  then  what?  " 
"  Oh,  then  I  suppose  I'd  go  for  my  long- 
229 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

postponed  trip  abroad,"  he  added;  "only  I 
must  get  those  plates.  As  long  as  they  are 
in  anybody  else's  hands,  don't  you  see  that  I 
am,  to  put  it  mildly,  in  an — er — uncomfort- 
able position?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  see,"  said  Elsie  thoughtfully. 
"  I  feel  so  sorry.  Let  us  think  some  more." 

The  meeting  was  not  in  the  little  West- 
Side  flat  this  time,  but  was  held  in  the  library 
of  Lorrimer's  own  house.  Old  Marston  was 
in  a  corner  of  the  room,  standing  near  the 
window,  poring  over  a  big  volume  he  had 
just  taken  down  from  the  shelf. 

"  Ha !  I've  got  it !  "  he  suddenly  exclaimed 
in  so  convincing  a  tone  that  both  his  daugh- 
ter and  Lorrimer,  on  whom  a  silence  had 
fallen,  jumped  to  their  feet. 

"What  is  it?"  exclaimed  Lorrimer 
eagerly. 

"  Miiller  says,  here  in  a  little  note,  some- 
thing that  throws  much  light  on  the  sacred 
syllable  *  Om.'  I  always  held,  with  Dr.  Roer, 
that  Om  is  called  Udgitha,  but " 

"  Oh,  father,  father — "  broke  in  Miss 
Marston  in  despair,  "  please  come  back  to 
230 


A     CONFERENCE 


earth  and  leave  all  that  alone.  Mr.  Lorrimer 
and  I  need  your  assistance." 

The  old  man  reluctantly  put  down  the 
book  and  approached  the  table. 

"  What  is  it  you  want?  "  he  asked. 

"Ideas,  ideas!"  cried  the  girl.  "Bril- 
liant, conclusive  ideas.  You  both  have  re- 
fused to  call  in  the  authorities,  although " 

"  No  detectives,  doctors,  reporters,  authors, 
or  lawyers  for  me,"  interposed  Lorrimer  de- 
cidedly. "  We've  got  to  work  this  thing  out 
ourselves :  we  believe  one  another's  story  and 
we've  come  to  deductions  that  your  father 
has  placed  in  lucid  sequence.  The  only  thing 
to  do  is  to  make  use  of  'em." 

He  picked  up  a  piece  of  paper  and  read 
aloud,  accenting  the  verbs  with  a  note  of 
satisfaction. 

"  The  acknowledged  facts  are  these:  First, 
that  we  possess  '  mens  sana  in  corpore  sano,' 
and  there  was  an  attempt  at  counterfeiting  by 
a  gang  whose  existence  is  unrecognized  by 
the  police.  Secondly,  that  all  of  our  own 
movements  and  the  blunders  of  the  police 
are  known  to  this  clever  gang.  Thirdly, 
231 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

that  a  robbery  was  committed  at  the  bank 
and  that  some  one  did  substitute  himself  for 
your  father  at  that  institution  at  the  time 
the  plates  were  stolen,  and  that  in  order  to 
make  this  possible  you  were  lured  to  Brook- 
lyn so  as  to  get  you  out  of  the  way.  Now,  of 
all  of  this  we  have  not  an  iota  of  evidence 
or  proof.  .  .  .  What  have  we  got  to 
go  upon?"  He  paused.  "I  would  give 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars " 

He  stopped.  Elsie  had  suddenly  risen 
with  an  exultant  cry.  She  held  in  her  hand 
a  copy  of  that  morning's  Herald.  "  Listen," 
she  said;  "  could  this  mean  anything?  " 

"  What?  "  exclaimed  Lorrimer. 

"  What?  "  echoed  Mr.  Marston. 

She  placed  the  paper  under  Lorrimer's  eye, 
her  finger  trembling  on  a  column  on  the  first 
page. 

"  '  Harry,  come  back'  "  read  Lorrimer ; 
"  '  mother  is  heartbroken!  '  " 

"  No,  not  that  one,"  interrupted  Elsie 
excitedly.  "  The  one  below  it  —  read, 
read!" 

Lorrimer  bent  over  close  and  began  again : 
232 


A    CONFERENCE 


"To  Brown:  Bid  high.  Insert  to-mor- 
row, answer.  PLATES." 

For  an  instant  he  stood  puzzled.  Then 
the  light  seemed  to  dawn  upon  him. 

"What  are  we  to  do?"  asked  Elsie. 
"  You  said  that  they  knew  you  at  Straub's 
place  as  *  Mr.  Brown.'  That  was  meant  for 
your  eye  I  You  must  answer  it — you  must !  " 

"  I  said  I'd  give  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars," faltered  Lorrimer.  "  It's  a  big  sum  of 
money,  but  for  the  sake  of  my  peace  of 
mind " 

Elsie  was  writing  something  on  the  mar- 
gin of  the  newspaper.  "  How  will  this  do?  " 
she  asked:  "  '  For  plates:  $25,000.'  " 

"  If  proved  unused,"  added  Lorrimer. 

"  If  unused,"  corrected  Elsie. 

She  scribbled  the  added  words  and  rose. 
"  We  must  get  this  in  to-morrow,"  she 
added.  "Will  I  take  it  down?" 

"  No,  no,  of  course  not — I'll  send  Judson." 

Lorrimer  stepped  into  the  hall,  pressing 

the  electric  button  as  he  passed  the  door.    In 

less  than  five  minutes  Judson  was  on  his  way 

to  an  advertising  agency  on  a  near-by  avenue. 

16  233 


CHAPTER    XVII 

A   PLUNGE    INTO   THE   MYSTERY 

|HREE  days  of  warm,  rainy  weather 
that  followed  the  big  storm  almost 
destroyed  the  last  trace  of  snow. 
What  little  there  was  left  had  completely  dis- 
appeared in  the  week  of  sunshine  that  was 
close  on  the  heels  of  the  soaking  downfall. 
Marvelous  are  the  vagaries  of  the  metropoli- 
tan thermometer ! 

As  Lorrimer  stood  at  the  big  bay  window 
that  jutted  over  the  marble  entrance  to  his 
house,  he  could  get  a  glimpse  of  the  Park. 
Through  the  leafless  trees  the  grass  showed 
vividly  green.  The  driveway  was  thronged 
with  vehicles  of  all  descriptions;  automobiles 
of  varied  colors  and  sizes  flashed  along.  Ev- 
erything had  the  air  of  the  sudden  leap  into 
spring,  the  leap  that  takes  us  unawares. 

The  last  ten  days  had  wrought  a  great 
change  in  Lorrimer's  appearance.  The  wor- 
234 


PLUNGE   INTO    THE   MYSTERY 

ried  look  had  gone  out  of  his  face,  the 
wrinkles  had  smoothed  away  from  his  brow, 
his  eyes  were  bright,  there  was  color  in  his 
cheeks.  He  had  spent  more  time  in  the  open 
air  during  the  past  week  than  he  had  for 
months;  and,  although  he  did  not  know  it, 
this  fact  had  attracted  some  comment. 
Friends  and  acquaintances  had  been  not  a 
little  astonished  to  see  him  driving  out  so 
regularly.  Sometimes  he  had  been  accom- 
panied by  a  little,  bright-faced,  white-bearded 
old  man  and  at  other  times — and  these  were 
the  occasions  when  his  acquaintances  had 
stared  and  his  friends  had  gossiped — his  com- 
panion had  been  a  tall,  intelligent-looking 
young  woman,  very  quietly  dressed,  who  had 
handsome  eyes. 

Lorrimer  had  returned  from  the  drive  this 
evening  in  a  mood  that  can  be  compared  only 
to  the  sensations  of  a  captive  balloon.  He 
had  of  late  kept  making  discoveries,  so  far 
as  Elsie  was  concerned.  He  had  made  one 
that  afternoon.  She  possessed  the  most  de- 
lightfully companionable  laugh  in  the  world! 
He  loved  to  recall  the  sound  of  it. 
235 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

But  his  spirits  that  were  so  high  drooped 
a  little  during  his  lonely  dinner  (to  his  sur- 
prise he  had  found  that  his  caretaker  was  an 
excellent  cook) .  Two  or  three  times  during 
his  meal  he  had  looked  at  the  empty  chair  at 
the  other  end  of  the  table  and  sighed,  one 
sigh  being  of  such  duration  and  depth  of 
feeling  that  the  discreet  Judson  had  glanced 
anxiously  at  his  master's  face,  wondering  if 
the  caretaker's  cooking  had  induced  a  pleasur- 
able surfeit  of  appetite  or  a  galloping  indi- 
gestion. 

On  the  walls  of  Lorrimer's  library  hung  a 
number  of  framed  manuscripts,  one  being  a 
love  letter  of  Robert  Burns,  addressed  to  his 
"Adorable,  dear,  delightful  Clarinda."  It 
had  never  struck  Lorrimer  as  being  of  par- 
ticular interest;  but  to-night  he  read  it  over 
with  an  acute  joy  in  the  sense  of  its  posses- 
sion. His  troubles  were  out  of  his  mind;  he 
even  took  down  the  poet  from  the  shelf  and 
was  deep  in  a  lyrical  effort  dedicated  "  To  the 
brilliant  Mrs.  M'Lehose":  "She,  the  fair 
sun  of  all  her  sex,  has  blessed  my  glorious 
day,"  when  the  telephone  rang. 
236 


PLUNGE  INTO  THE  MYSTERY 

Almost  as  if  surprised  in  doing  something 
he  should  be  ashamed  of,  he  replaced  the 
volume  before  answering  the  call. 

Now,  under  most  circumstances,  a  listener 
hears  but  one  end  of  the  wire.  On  this  occa- 
sion it  is  better  to  record  the  complete  tele- 
phonic dialogue. 

"Is  this  Mr.  Paul  Lorrimer?  "  asked  a 
well-modulated  and  cultured  voice  that  was 
entirely  new  to  Lorrimer's  ears. 

"  Yes;  who  is  it,  please?  " 

The  man  at  the  other  end  laughed  music- 
ally. 

"  Never  mind  just  yet.     Are  you  alone?  " 

"  Yes;  but  who  are  you?  " 

"  Is  there  a  clock  in  the  room?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Lorrimer,  surprised  into 
glancing  at  the  small  onyx  timepiece  on  the 
mantel;  "  but " 

"  Will  you  tell  me  what  time  it  is?  "  said 
the  voice  pleasantly. 

"  Who  are  you,  and  what  the  devil " 

The  voice  broke  in  on  him. 

"  Now,  now,  please  don't  get  irritated. 
All  this,  my  dear  sir,  is  rather  important.  If 
237 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

you  will  tell  me  the  time,  I  will  prove  it  in 
one  word." 

"  It's  five  minutes  of  nine.  Who  are 
you?" 

The  next  word,  spoken  evidently  with  lips 
close  to  the  transmitter,  brought  Lorrimer  to 
his  feet. 

"  Plates!  "  came  the  word  softly.  "  Now, 
will  you  listen?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Lorrimer  breathlessly. 
"  Go  on;  I  understand." 

"  Your  terms  are  accepted,"  said  the  voice 
at  the  other  end,  "  and  if  you  follow  direc- 
tions the  plates  will  be  yours  by  eleven  o'clock 
to-night.  But,  first,  will  you  move  that  clock 
close  to  the  telephone  so  that  I  can  hear  it? 
No,  don't  hang  up  the  receiver — I've  en- 
gaged the  telephone  for  five  minutes  and  I 
want  the  worth  of  my  money." 

Lorrimer,  puzzled,  brought  the  clock  to 
the  desk  and  placed  it  beside  the  telephone. 

"  There,"  said  he. 

"  That's  right,"  soothed  the  voice.  "  Now 
will  you  walk  to  the  window  and  look  out 
toward  the  Park?  If  there  is  a  big  automo- 
238 


PLUNGE   INTO    THE   MYSTERY 

bile  standing  there  at  the  corner  of  the  street, 
with  the  lamps  lit,  come  back  and  tell  me. 
Don't  be  more  than  ten  seconds." 

Lorrimer  walked  to  the  window.  Sure 
enough,  there  was  the  automobile,  its  big 
staring  eyes  gleaming  unblinkingly,  like  a 
wakeful  dragon. 

"  It's  there,"  said  Lorrimer,  returning 
quickly.  "  Now,  what  do  you  want?  " 

"  Have  you  the  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars in  the  house?  " 

"  Yes." 

Lorrimer  was  growing  laconic,  yet  he  was 
not  in  the  least  bit  nervous;  never  did  he  feel 
more  self-assured,  although  the  little  frissons 
of  excitement — the  ants'  nests  back  of  his 
ears — thrilled  him  half  delightfully. 

"  Is  it  in  gold?" 

"  No;  in  bank  notes." 

"  Perfectly  good,  are  they?  " 

"  Perfectly  good;  you  could  come  here  and 
examine  them." 

"  No,  thanks,"  answered  the  man,  laugh- 
ing again;  "  I'd  rather  not.  But  I  tell  you 
what  to  do.  Put  them  in  a  small  traveling 

239 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

bag,  hurry  on  your  coat  and  hat,  and  fetch 
them  with  you  to  the  automobile.  Leave  the 
telephone  receiver  on  the  clock,  and  by  the 
time  it  strikes  nine  some  one  will  join  you 
there;  speak  to  no  one  on  the  way  and  ask 
no  questions.  I  can  assure  you  of  your  per- 
sonal safety;  there  is  no  danger.  By  the 
way,  those  were  beautiful  flowers  you  sent 
somewhere  this  evening — your  man  has  not 
yet  returned,  has  he?  " 

"No;  I'm  all  alone." 

"  Well,  hurry !  and  mind  you  follow  in- 
structions— pardon  my  being  curt,  but  we  are 
working  on  a  schedule — we  have  about  three 
minutes." 

Impelled  by  something  he  could  not  tell 
what,  Lorrimer  did  not  hesitate.  He  picked 
up  a  little  hand  satchel,  opened  the  small 
safe,  catching  the  combination  unerringly  de- 
spite a  rather  feverish  haste.  Remembering 
the  night  was  cold,  he  swung  himself  into  his 
heavy  fur  coat,  picked  out  an  automobile  cap, 
and  in  another  moment  had  closed  the  front 
door.  Before  he  had  reached  the  corner  his 
heart  was  beating  like  a  trip  hammer.  Here 
240 


PLUNGE   INTO    THE   MYSTERY 

he  was,  carrying  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
and  absolutely  unarmed!  His  steps  grew 
slower  as  he  came  nearer  the  big  automobile. 
He  perceived  that  it  had  no  tonneau,  only  a 
racing  seat  for  two.  It  was  of  foreign  make 
and  must  have  been  all  of  sixty  horse  power. 
He  stepped  behind  it  and  glanced  at  the  num- 
ber. It  would  be  a  good  thing  to  remember. 
It  was  the  figure  one,  followed  by  three 
ciphers,  and  appeared  glaringly  new.  He 
stepped  around  to  the  side  of  the  machine  and 
stood  there  astonished.  Looking  up  and 
down  the  street  he  could  see  no  one.  A 
closed  delivery  wagon  rapidly  approaching 
was  the  only  moving  thing  in  sight.  Perhaps 
the  chauffeur  might  be  hiding  the  other  side 
of  the  stone  wall  that  bordered  the  Park.  He 
stepped  across  and  peered  over  the  balus- 
trade, glancing  along  at  the  ground.  Noth- 
ing there!  All  at  once  he  jumped! 

With  a  throb  the  huge  engines  of  the  car 
had  begun  to  whir!  There  was  a  man  in  a 
long  coat  just  straightening  himself  up  from 
the  turn  he  had  given  to  the  crank!  Where 
did  he  come  from  ?  The  delivery  wagon  was 
241 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

now   half   a  block  away;  it   turned  swiftly 
about  the  next  corner. 

"  Ready?  "  said  the  man  with  a  trace  of  a 
foreign  accent.  Lorrimer  saw  that  he  was 
tall  and  broad-shouldered,  much  muffled 
about  the  throat,  his  collar  buttoned  across 
his  chin,  and  his  face  hidden  by  a  pair  of  big 
goggles  with  gray  silk  flaps.  Without  an- 
other word  the  man  settled  himself  at  the 
steering  wheel;  and  Lorrimer,  with  the  bag 
on  his  knees,  sat  down  in  the  lower  seat  be- 
side him.  There  was  a  jar  and  a  grunt  as  the 
clutches  caught,  and,  with  a  swirl,  the  huge 
car  turned  and  started  up  the  avenue  at  a 
rate  much  exceeding  the  limit  allowed  by  law, 
Lorrimer  began  to  realize  that  he  had  taken 
a  rather  sudden  plunge  into  the  mystery.  But 
as  this  realization  grew  his  curiosity  in- 
creased. 


242 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE    END   OF   THE    BARGAIN 

[T  really  grew   embarrassing  after  a 
while.     Lorrimer's  sense  of  polite- 
ness kept  impelling  him  to  speak, 
and  yet  to  save  his  life  he  could  not  think 
how  to  begin.     A  very  natural  circumstance 
led  to  the  opening.     They  were   humming 
down  the  incline   at  the  upper  end  of  the 
Park,  when  Lorrimer  detected  a  man  leaning 
against  a  bicycle  underneath  a  street  lamp. 
"  Policeman  ahead,"  said  he. 
"  Merci,  monsieur"  said  the  man  at  the 
wheel. 

As  he  slowed  down,  gradually  and  skill- 
fully, he  spoke  beneath  his  breath,  as  if  the 
huge  fabric  was  a  restive,  nervous  horse. 
"  Doucement,  doucement!  " 
Lorrimer   admired  the  way   in  which  he 
manipulated  the  pedals  and  changed  to  the 
243 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

lower  speed  without  a  jolt  or  jar.  They  slid 
by  the  policeman  as  silently  as  a  sailboat.  In 
two  minutes  they  were  hurtling  on  again. 

Lorrimer  essayed  now  to  open  the  conver- 
sation in  French,  which  he  spoke  very  well. 
The  only  answers  he  received  were  polite 
monosyllables.  When  he  asked  how  far  they 
had  to  go — trying  to  put  it  in  the  most  casual 
tone — there  was  no  reply  at  all.  His  nerves, 
however,  were  in  such  good  condition  that  he 
now  entered  with  a  full  enjoyment  into  the 
uncertainty  of  the  adventure.  The  swift  mo- 
tion and  the  keen  fresh  air  exhilarated  him. 
The  minutes  and  the  miles  sped  by.  They 
crossed  the  high  bridge  over  the  Harlem, 
sped  through  the  wide  parkways  beyond,  and 
began  to  get  into  the  real  country.  The 
driver  seemed  to  know  the  way.  He  turned 
to  one  side  of  the  road  to  avoid  a  soft  spot 
in  the  middle.  Then  suddenly  he  whirled  out 
from  a  long  stretch  of  wide  thoroughfare 
and  took  a  little  lane  to  the  left  that  led  up 
a  rough,  steep  hill.  The  going  was  heavy 
here;  the  mud  and  gravel  spurted  from  the 
wheels  and  rattled  against  the  guards.  Two 
244 


THE    END    OF    THE    BARGAIN 

or  three  times  the  machine  lurched  and 
wallowed  heavily,  but  with  hand  and  foot 
and  proper  changing  of  the  gear  the  silent 
chauffeur  kept  the  machine  at  a  fairly  even 
speed. 

When  almost  at  the  top  of  the  hill  he 
turned  again  to  the  left  and  entered  a  still 
worse  bit  of  road.  An  old  stone  wall  was 
on  one  side  and  a  deep  ditch  on  the  other. 
They  passed  something  that  appeared  to  be 
a  quarry  or  gravel  pit,  and  then  some  shan- 
ties, evidently  erected  for  the  temporary  oc- 
cupation of  workmen.  All  at  once  the 
machine  was  brought  to  a  stop. 

What  Lorrimer  expected  he  could  not  have 
told  at  the  moment.  If  his  companion  had 
given  the  traditional  low  whistle,  he  would 
not  have  been  surprised.  If  four  or  five 
masked  men  had  appeared  from  the  bushes 
or  from  the  direction  of  the  shanties,  he 
would  have  greeted  their  appearance  as  a 
matter  of  course.  But  no  such  thing  oc- 
curred. The  tall  man  stood  up  beside  him 
and  stretched  his  arms  in  relief. 

"  Nous  voila"  he  said  pleasantly,  and 
245 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

stepped  to  the  ground.  He  walked  to  the 
head  of  the  machine  and  turned  down  the 
acetylene  lamps  to  a  glimmer.  Lorrimer 
sat  silently  awaiting  the  next  development, 
but  his  heart  had  begun  an  uncomfortable 
thumping. 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  the  man,  speaking 
in  English,  without  the  slightest  preliminary, 
"  when  I  first  saw  your  answer  in  the  Herald 
I  felt  a  little  shy  about  opening  communica- 
tions. If  you  had  put  in  another  one  I 
would  have  fought  clear  of  you.  I  was 
afraid  you  were  a  detective  leading  me  on." 

"  Confound  the  detectives,"  said  Lorrimer. 
"  I'll  have  nothing  to  do  with  them." 

"  No;  in  this  matter  surely  not,"  said  the 
man  confidentially.  "  I'd  trust  you." 

"  I  trusted  you,  too,"  said  Lorrimer.  "  I 
don't  know  why." 

"  It's  the  best  way,"  said  the  Mysterious 
One  confidentially.  ; '  Play  fair  and  square 
with  your  pals,'  has  been  my  motto.  But 
now  tell  me  one  thing:  Why  was  it  you 
wanted  to  get  out  of  the  whole  business? 
It  was  old  Strauss's  sudden  death,  I  suppose." 
246 


THE    END    OF    THE    BARGAIN 

"  Yes,  that  was  what  led  to  it." 

Lorrimer  was  puzzled  and  amazed  at  his 
coolness.  He  had  controlled  a  momentary 
desire  to  burst  into  angry  expostulation. 

"Afterwards,  you  just  got  cold  feet  and 
didn't  want  to  meet  any  of  the  rest  of  us — 
is  that  it?  You  and  he  had  never  done  any 
work  of  this  kind  before,  had  you?  " 

"  No,"  replied  Lorrimer;  "  that  I'll  swear 
to."  He  was  flushing  to  a  red  heat  of  irrita- 
tion, but  spoke  quietly. 

"  You  know,  it  looked  a  bit  strange,  that 
sudden  taking  off.  He'd  sworn  they'd  never 
get  him  alive — always  carried  a  knife  or  a 
gun,  but  I  knew  he  had  heart  trouble.  And 
he  wouldn't  meet  anybody,  either,  same  as 
you.  Fifteen  years  did  he  spend  in  the  donjon 
in  Germany  and  yet  he  was  willing  to  risk  it. 
You  know,  I  hate  to  give  this  scheme  up. 
.  .  .  You've  got  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars in  that  bag,  ch?  " 

At  that  moment  the  foolishness  of  his 
position  came  to  Lorrimer  with  a  disconcert- 
ing force.  Here  he  was,  absolutely  unarmed, 
with  a  man  who,  from  all  appearances,  was 
247 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

his  superior  in  physical  strength  and  who 
might  be  meditating  the  Lord  knows  what, 
in  a  lonely  place,  miles,  for  all  he  knew, 
from  the  nearest  habitation.  And  on  his 
knees  in  a  hand  bag  he  had  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars  in  treasury  notes. 

"  You  know,"  said  his  friend,  still  confi- 
dentially, "  you  took  a  pretty  bold  way  out 
of  it.  I  admired  you  for  it,  and  the  way 
you  played  it,  too.  I  couldn't,  no,  I  couldn't 
have  done  it  so  well  myself.  And  now,  you 
just  want  to  get  shut  of  the  whole  business, 
eh?  And " 

"And  I  want  back  those  plates,"  said  Lor- 
rimer,  this  time  with  his  teeth  clenched. 

"And  no  questions  asked,"  chuckled  the 
man. 

"  That's  it  exactly." 

"  Well,  *  you  pays  your  money  and  you 
takes  your  choice.'  " 

"  I've  got  the  money." 

"And  here's  your  plates." 

From  beneath  the  seat  he  drew  forth  a  flat 
package  tied  up  in  a  newspaper. 

"  They  are  just  as  I  got  them,"  said  he, 
248 


THE    END    OF    THE    BARGAIN 

"  and  '  unused  ' — funny  you  should  put  that 
in!" 

"  Where  did  you  get  them?  "  asked  Lor- 
rimer,  "  and  how — how  did  you  get  into  the 
bank?  Who  was  it  that " 

"  Oh,  that's  telling — better  have  a  look  at 
them.  Bank?  I  don't  know  anything  about 
a  bank." 

He  detached,  as  he  was  speaking,  the  little 
lamp  from  the  back  of  the  car  and  put  it  on 
the  ground.  Then  he  slipped  off  the  news- 
paper wrapping  and  untied  the  strings  of  the 
brown  paper  one  within. 

There  was  the  long-coveted  copper  plate 
with  the  two  marvelous  etchings,  the  only 
link  that  might  connect  him  with  the  shadow 
of  a  crime. 

"  Beautiful  work,"  whispered  the  man, 
with  a  sigh.  "  Beautiful  work!  " 

"  I  want  you  to  understand,"  said  Lor- 
rimer  testily,  "  that  I  had  nothing  to  do 
with  it." 

"  There's  nothing  there  to  be  ashamed 
of,"  said  the  man.  "  I'll  never  see  another 
effort  like  this,  and  neither  will  your  friend, 
17  249 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

Mr.  Wilkins.  Did  you  ever  intend  really  to 
show  it  to  him  ?  I  think  that  you  would  have 
been  rather  foolish.  It  was  risky." 

"  Maybe  it  was,"  said  Lorrimer,  "  but  my 
lawyer  thought  it  was  best." 

"  What  does  he  say  now?  " 

"  We're  not  exactly  on  speaking  terms.  I 
don't  intend  to  consult  him." 

"Oh,  pardon  me;  I  didn't  mean  to  ask 
any  questions.  We  can  each  reserve  the  right 
not  to  reply,  I  suppose." 

"  Well,  there  are  questions  I'd  like  to  ask 
you,"  said  Lorrimer  eagerly.  "  How  did  you 
get  to  the  automobile  this  evening,  without 
my  seeing  you?  " 

"  Well,  I'll  answer  that.  I  got  out  of  the 
delivery  wagon.  I  drove  there  from  where 
I  was  telephoning  you.  I  can  account  for 
almost  every  minute  of  your  time,  Mr.  Lor- 
rimer, since  the  day  old  Strauss  died,  almost 
every  minute." 

"  I  thought  as  much.  Were  you  ever  at 
the  Cafe  Martin?" 

"  No;  where  is  that — in  Paris?  "  asked  the 
man  innocently.  "  But  we  are  doing  a  lot 
250 


THE    END    OF    THE    BARGAIN 

of  talking,"  he  added.  "  You  don't  mind 
my  taking  a  look  at  the  swag  you've  got  there 
in  the  bag,  do  you?  " 

Lorrimer  handed  it  to  him.  In  the  light 
of  the  lamp  he  counted  the  treasury  bills. 
Lorrimer  now  looked  closely  at  him.  He 
had  a  jet-black  mustache  and  a  blue  smooth- 
shaven  chin.  Suddenly  he  laughed. 

"  I  almost  believe  you  made  'em,"  he  said 
humorously,  "  you  seem  so  glad  to  get  rid 
of  'em.  Now,  you  wouldn't  go  and  shove 
the  queer  on  a  pal,  would  you?  " 

For  a  minute  the  stranger  had  dropped 
into  the  easy  vernacular  of  the  "  talent."  It 
was  strange  how  many  accents  he  had;  his 
French  was  perfect,  and  occasionally  his  Eng- 
lish was  that  of  a  cultured  and  refined  man 
of  the  world.  It  had  a  Belgravia  twist  to  it, 
a  suggestion  of  the  inherited  affectations  of 
Oxonian  ancestors.  He  did  not  put  the 
money  in  his  pocket — it  made  a  bulky  pack- 
age— but  replaced  it  in  the  bag. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  turning  to  Lorrimer, 
"  there's  just  one  thing  more,  and  I  think  I 
have  a  right  to  ask  it:  You  don't  intend  to 
251 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

use  this  work  of  art,  do  you  ?    That  wouldn't 
be  quite  fair." 

"  I  assure  you,  on  my  word  of  honor,  I 
do  not.  I  want  to  get  it  out  of  the  way." 

"  That  can  be  easily  done,"  was  the  re- 
sponse. "  I  was  going  to  suggest  it.  You 
wouldn't  want  to  be  found  with  this  on  you, 
I  can  tell  you  that  much." 

"  No,  I  wouldn't.  That  goes  without 
saying." 

"And  you  certainly  don't  intend  to  hand 
it  over  to  the  authorities.  They  wouldn't 
treat  you  very  well.  Come,"  he  added,  rising 
and  walking  back  to  the  autocar,  "  I've  got 
a  little  something  here  that  will  settle  all 
doubts  that  might  ever  arise  between  us." 

He  drew  a  glass-stoppered  bottle  out  of 
the  hood  and  brought  it  down  to  where  the 
light  shone  on  it. 

"Sulphuric  acid,  eh?"  said  Lorrimer, 
reading  the  familiar  formula  on  the  sand- 
blown  label. 

"  With  your  permission,"  said  the  stran- 
ger. "May  I?" 

"  Go  ahead,"  said  Lorrimer  grimly. 
252 


THE    END    OF    THE    BARGAIN 

The  plate  was  laid  on  the  ground  and  the 
biting  acid  poured  on  its  surface.  The  fumes 
of  the  corroding  metal  rose  to  their  nostrils 
as  the  fluid  bit  into  the  surface  of  the  copper. 
The  last  drop  was  drained.  The  stranger 
moved  the  plate  with  his  foot  into  a  puddle 
of  rain  water.  At  the  same  time  the  bottle 
cracked  into  pieces  against  the  stone  wall.  In 
a  minute  or  so  he  drew  the  plate  forth  and 
wiped  it  dry  with  the  newspaper.  So  far  as 
could  be  seen,  not  a  trace  of  the  old  photo- 
engraving was  there. 

"  There  you  are,"  said  he.  With  a  bow 
he  handed  the  packet  to  Lorrimer.  "  You'll 
never  be  troubled  by  that  as  evidence  against 
you.  Here  we  part." 

"What  am  I  to  do?  "  asked  Lorrimer. 

"  Well,  it's  about  three  miles  to  the  station, 
and  if  you  walk  down  there,  over  the  edge 
of  this  ravine,  you'll  find  a  little  path " 

"  Now,  see  here,"  broke  in  Lorrimer,  "  it's 
dark  as  pitch.  You  might  take  me  as  far 
back  as  the  main  road.  I  haven't  the  slight- 
est idea  where  I  am.  Don't  you  think  it's 
rather  foolish  to  turn  me  out  this  way?  " 
253 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

"  It  certainly  isn't  polite,"  was  the  reply, 
"  but  it's  part  of  my  original  plan.  It 
was  here  I  was  to  disappear  out  of  your 
life." 

"  You'd  be  just  as  safe  if  you  disappeared 
out  of  my  life  in  the  corridor  of  the  Waldorf- 
Astoria — I  won't  follow  you.  I  pledge  you 
my  word — my  honor." 

"All  right,"  was  the  reply.  "  I  trust  you. 
I'll  take  you  back  to  the  station.  There'll 
be  a  train  along  in  about  an  hour,  but  I've 
got  some  distance  to  go  to-night,  so  I  can't 
drive  you  back  to  town.  Now,  let's  see  how 
we  shall  get  out  of  this?  " 

He  surveyed  the  ground  with  the  lantern 
in  his  hand. 

"A  ticklish  bit  of  turning,"  he  said, 
whistling  softly.  "Un  vrai  cul-de-sac!  Nev- 
ertheless, we'll  try." 

Lorrimer  watched  again  with  admiration 
while  the  huge  machine  backed  and  filled, 
now  with  the  lamps  almost  against  the  stone 
wall,  and  again  with  the  back  wheels  almost 
over  the  ditch.  At  last  it  was  straightened 
out  and  pointing  the  way  they  had  come. 
254 


THE    END    OF    THE    BARGAIN 

"Montez,  monsieur,"  said  the  stranger  at 
last.  As  Lorrimer  mounted  beside  him,  the 
big  man  put  the  bag  in  the  hood  and  buttoned 
down  the  flap.  Another  moment,  they  were 
jolting  down  the  road. 


255 


CHAPTER   XIX 

A   CHASE   AND   A    CAPTURE 

|  HEN  they  entered  the  broad  highway, 
having  successfully  reached  the  bot- 
tom of  the  hill,  the  driver  let  out  a 
link  or  two.  The  machine  responded  with  a 
humming  leap.  Lorrimer  could  feel  the  pres- 
sure of  the  wind  upon  his  chest,  his  eyes 
and  face  stung,  the  tears  rolled  down  his 
cheeks.  Once  he  ventured  a  hint  that  the 
pace  was  a  bit  fast  for  the  suburbs  of  a 
town.  It  was  evident  that  they  were  ap- 
proaching one,  for  the  houses  were  getting 
thicker,  and  in  a  street  to  the  left  he  could 
see  the  moving  lights  of  a  trolley  car. 

"I'm  going  to  take  you  over  to  the  other 
railway,"  said  the  man  at  the  steering  wheel, 
"  and  we'll  have  to  hurry  for  the  train." 

The  wheels  skidded  as  they  swung  about  a 
corner.    Just  ahead  of  them,  standing,  pant- 
256 


A    CHASE    AND    A     CAPTURE 

ing  impatiently,  beside  the  road,  was  another 
automobile  with  three  occupants.  A  man 
stepped  out  from  the  curb  and  lifted  his  hand 
as  if  ordering  them  to  slow  down.  They 
passed  him  with  a  roar  and  a  spattering  rush. 
Lorrimer  turned  and  saw  him  spring  for  the 
back  of  the  waiting  motor  car.  In  a  second 
it  had  swung  out  into  the  road  and,  just  as 
they  crossed  the  trolley  tracks,  the  car  be- 
hind passed  beneath  an  electric  light.  Lor- 
rimer perceived  plainly  the  fateful  gleam  of 
a  double  row  of  metal  buttons. 

"  The  police !  "  he  cried,  touching  his  com- 
panion's arm.  "  They're  after  us." 

The  driver  gave  a  quick  glance  over  his 
shoulder.  "  They'll  never  catch  us,"  he  said, 
chuckling.  "  We'll  lose  them  in  five  min- 
utes." 

The  machine  turned  another  corner  and 
reached  a  winding  turnpike;  then  another 
sharp  swirl  to  the  right,  and  he  had  proved 
his  assertion.  Looking  back  there  were  no 
signs  of  the  pursuing  lights. 

"  I'll  drop  you  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
of  the  station,"  said  the  driver.  "  We're 
257 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

almost  there,  and  we'll  part  company. 
Perhaps  you'd  better  keep  quiet  for  a  day 
or  so.  I  don't  know  but  what  I'd  leave 
the  country  for  a  short  time,  if  I  were 
you.  Hallo!  Hold  tight!  What's  this!! 
Dietif" 

The  end  of  the  sentence  broke  short  in  a 
curse.  Before  them,  stretched  across  the 
road,  was  a  barrier  of  loose  boards  lying 
across  the  tops  of  barrels.  A  dim  red  lamp 
shone  at  the  center.  Even  with  hand  and 
foot  brakes  applied,  and  the  back  wheels  al- 
most locked,  the  machine  struck  the  obstruc- 
tion. A  heavy  plank  caught  both  lamps  and 
with  a  tingle  of  glass  and  brasswork  they 
shattered  and  went  out.  But  before  they  had 
done  so,  in  that  thrilling  second  before  the 
smash,  the  roadway  beyond  the  obstruction 
had  been  visible.  Piles  of  broken  road  bal- 
last presided  over  by  a  sleeping  brute  of  a 
steam  roller! 

"What  are  we  to  do?"  cried  Lorrimer. 
"Better  run  for  it,  hey?"  He  started  to 
get  out. 

"  Keep  your  seat,  keep  your  seat!  "  cried 
258 


A    CHASE    AND    A     CAPTURE 

his  companion.  He  was  heaving  at  the  levers 
as  if  he  could  move  the  whole  machine  by 
force  of  muscular  strength.  Slowly  they  be- 
gan to  go  backward.  A  snap,  a  groan,  and 
they  were  going  forward  again.  Another 
grunt  and  heave  and  they  had  made  a  wide 
swirl,  just  missing  a  tree  box,  and  had  turned 
back  in  the  road,  and  were  flying  through  the 
darkness,  retracing  the  way  by  which  they 
had  come.  How  the  man  at  the  wheel  could 
see  was  more  than  Lorrimer  could  imagine, 
but  he  bent  forward,  peering  straight  ahead. 
The  road  just  showed  a  lighter  streak  against 
the  dark  ground  on  either  hand.  They  had 
almost  reached  the  winding  avenue  again, 
when  with  a  shout  Lorrimer  pointed.  Here 
came  the  other  automobile  from  the  left !  It 
was  a  question  of  who'd  reach  the  corner 
first.  One  of  the  broken  lamps  was  jingling 
like  a  cowbell  in  front.  They  might  have 
been  ringing  a  gong.  At  last  they  reached  the 
corner.  Almost  on  two  wheels  the  big  ma- 
chine cut  round  it  safely.  Far  ahead  of  them 
they  could  see  a  long  vista  of  scattered  lights. 
The  small  automobile,  in  which  there  were 
259 


OUTSIDE     THE    L  A  W 

the  four  men,  was  not  a  hundred  yards  be- 
hind. Lorrimer  glanced  back.  He  could 
see  that  the  man  beside  the  driver  was 
standing  up,  shouting.  In  the  next  quarter  of 
a  mile  down  the  smooth  road  the  big  machine 
had  gained  considerably. 

Suddenly  there  came  a  sharp  report  behind 
them. 

"  Broke  a  tire,  eh?"  said  his  companion. 
"  Good  enough  for  'em." 

But  it  was  not  a  tire,  for  as  Lorrimer 
turned  to  look,  there  was  a  flash,  and  over 
their  heads  sped  a  little  whistling,  musical 
note,  \vhich  changed  from  sharp  to  flat. 
They  both  ducked  forward.  Another  flash, 
and  a  sharp  rap  at  the  back  of  the  machine. 
But  they  were  gaining,  gaining  1 

A  wild  exhilaration  ran  through  Lorri- 
mer's  veins.  Never  had  he  been  so  thrillingly 
close  against  the  actual.  He  bent  backward 
and  forward  in  his  seat,  like  a  coxswain  en- 
couraging a  racing  crew.  They  topped  a 
slight  incline  and  shot  down  the  other  side, 
passing  a  buggy  whose  horse  leaped  in  fright 
to  the  curbstone.  Then  there  was  a  jar  that 
260 


A    CHASE    AND    A    CAPTURE 

set  the  lamp  jangling  and  jumped  the  tools 
unmusically  in  the  tool  basket.  The  driver 
came  forward  against  the  wheel  with  a  lurch. 
Lorrimer  was  pitched  forward  to  his  knees, 
and  narrowly  missed  going  out  altogether. 
But  down  the  slope  the  machine  tore  on. 
Once  at  the  bottom  he  heard  the  squeak  of 
the  accelerator  against  the  ratchet,  and  then 
from  beneath  the  chassis  sounded  a  rhyth- 
mical jolt. 

"  She's  knocking,"  groaned  the  driver  de- 
spairingly. "  The  main  shaft  is  out  of 
gear!" 

He  slowed  to  the  second  speed.  The 
clutch  spudded  exhaustedly.  It  slipped  and 
caught  and  slipped  again. 

"  Done  for!  "  said  the  man  with  another 
curse.  "Are  they  in  sight?  " 

"  Just  at  the  top  of  the  hill,"  cried  Lor- 
rimer. "  What  will  we  do?  " 

The  car  was  still  lamely  plunging  on. 

"  Hold  tight  again!  "  cried  the  chauffeur. 
A  driveway  between  two  huge  stone  gate- 
posts was  on  the  right.  He  turned  quickly 
into  it.  But  he  did  not  see  the  iron  gate  that 
261 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

stood  half  open.  It  caught  the  off  front  hub 
and  Lorrimer  was  hurled  forward  clear  over 
the  mud  guard.  He  landed  full  and  square, 
with  his  chest  against  the  angle  of  the  stone 
post.  He  felt  as  if  his  breastbone  and  ribs 
were  stove  in.  How  he  had  missed  smashing 
his  skull  he  could  not  have  told.  But  there 
was  one  thing  that  had  saved  him — the  cop- 
per plate  that  he  had  slipped  beneath  his 
heavy  fur  coat  and  that  he  had  been  holding 
in  place  with  the  tips  of  his  fingers. 

Gasping  and  coughing,  he  struggled  to  his 
feet.  His  companion  was  fumbling  at  the 
catches  of  the  hood.  At  last  he  drew  out  the 
leather  bag,  tearing  it  free  with  a  jerk  from 
the  canvas  cover. 

"  Run !  "  he  cried.     "  Quick,  follow  me." 
"  Stop !  "  shouted  a  voice.    "  Stop,  I  say !  " 
There  was  the  little  automobile,  its  band 
brakes  screeching  as  its  speed  slowed.     Lor- 
rimer could  see  the  men    (three  of  them) 
standing  up  preparing  to  leap.     Two  wore 
uniforms.     Animated  by  the  wild  desire  to 
escape,  he  started  to  run.     Only  a  few  steps 
before  him  was  the  tall  man  with  the  hand 
262 


A    CHASE    AND    A     CAPTURE 

bag.  Turning,  he  stretched  out  his  hand  as 
if  to  lend  assistance,  and  then  suddenly  he 
tripped  and  sprawled  full  length  in  the  drive- 
way. A  chain  stretched  across  the  road  from 
two  small  posts,  a  sign  of  the  would-be  seclu- 
sion of  the  owner  of  the  estate,  had  proved 
his  ruin.  Lorrimer  had  just  time  to  make  a 
nervous  jump  across  it,  when  he,  too,  tripped 
and,  like  a  football  player  falling  on  the 
ball,  came  down  in  a  heap  on  the  leather  hand 
bag.  His  companion,  a  few  paces  forward, 
rose  to  his  feet,  and  then  gave  a  sudden  leap 
from  the  driveway  into  the  bushes.  At  that 
moment  some  one  spoke  above  Lorrimer 
where  he  lay. 

"  Here's  one  of  them — drunk,  as  I  sus- 
pected. Where's  the  other  fellow?  " 

"There  he  goes,"  cried  another  voice; 
"  across  the  lawn,  by  the  corner  of  the 
house." 

"After  him,  you  men,"  shouted  the  first 
speaker.  Then  he  turned.  "  Here,  Fon- 
tine,"  he  cried.  "  Keep  an  eye  on  this  chap 
here.  Don't  think  he  can  get  away  very 
fast." 

263 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

With  that  the  man  who  was  in  plain 
clothes,  and  seemed  to  be  in  command, 
started  hotfoot  after  the  others. 

Lorrimer,  still  on  the  ground,  rolled  over 
and  looked  up  into  the  face  of  Emile  Fontine, 
whom  he  had  employed  the  year  before  to 
run  his  big  Panhard — the  very  man  whom 
he  had  found  such  an  expensive  luxury  and 
who  had  landed  him  more  than  once  in  the 
courts  for  speeding. 

"  Hallo,  Fontine,"  he  said,  drawing  breath 
with  an  effort;  "  don't  you  know  me?  " 

"Monsieur  Lorrimer!"  cried  the  man. 
"You!  ParbleuJ" 

It  was  as  amusing  as  a  recognition  in  a  com- 
edy. .  The  man's  surprise,  his  utter  consterna- 
tion at  finding  his  overcareful  ex-master  in 
such  a  plight,  was  ludicrous  to  see. 

"  Fontine,"  said  Lorrimer,  rising,  cough- 
ing, and  sputtering,  "  this  is  an  awful  scrape 
for  me.  I  wouldn't  have  had  it  happen 
for — "  He  paused  and  thought  of  the 
money  in  the  bag  that  he  had  picked  up  with 
both  hands.  "  For  a  hundred  dollars,"  he 
added  desperately. 

264 


A    CHASE    AND    A     CAPTURE 

"  It  will  cost  monsieur  fully  as  large  as 
that,"  returned  the  man.  "  And  you  smashed 
ze  machine  pretty  much,  too.  Yes?  " 

He  gave  a  glance  at  the  damages  of  the  big 
F.  I.  A.  T. 

"Were  you  driving,  monsieur?  Impos- 
sible— non — non!  " 

"  No;  I  don't  know  the  gentleman's  name. 
It  was  just  a  sort  of  wild  spree — a  foolish 
bet !  And  you  mustn't  know  me  either.  And, 
here,  Fontine,  Fontine!  You  see  this  bag. 
If  you'll  take  care  of  it  and  give  it  to  me 
to-morrow  without  letting  anyone  know,  I'll 
pay  you  double  whatever  the  fine  may  be. 
There  are  some  personal  papers  in  it  I 
wouldn't  like  anyone  to  see."  He  handed 
the  bag  to  Fontine,  remembering  with  relief 
that  unless  a  person  knew  how  to  press  the 
proper  catches,  it  was  as  good  as  locked. 
The  chauffeur  took  it  politely  with  a  hurried 
bow. 

"  It  will  be  all  right,  monsieur,"  said  he; 
"  I'll  take  care  of  it.  Certe'ment." 

He  hurried  over  to  the  smaller  automobile, 
and  lifting  the  lid  of  the  basket  at  the  side, 
18  265 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

deposited  the  bag  safely  within,  and  closed 
the  lid  again. 

"  Monsieur  had  better  not  give  his  name," 
said  the  Frenchman,  returning.  "  Here, 
vite,  vite,  give  me  your  cards  and  card  case !  " 

"  Take  my  purse,  Fontine,"  said  Lorrimer, 
handing  over  his  wallet.  "  My  name  is 
Smith,  John  Smith." 

"  We  have  caught  five  John  Smiths  in  ze 
last  week,"  said  the  chauffeur,  grinning. 
"  But  it  is  all  ze  same,  if  they  pay  ze  money. 
Pst,  pst,  take  care,  monsieur,  here  zey  come. 
Ah,  zey  have  not  got  him — echappe!  " 

Much  disgruntled,  the  myrmidons  of  the 
law  returned  empty-handed.  The  fugitive 
had  jumped  the  high  wall  at  the  back  of 
the  estate,  slid  down  to  the  railway  embank- 
ment, and  more  than  possibly  had  jumped 
on  a  freight  train  that  was  pulling  up  the 
grade.  At  all  events  he  disappeared !  They 
vented  their  harshness  on  Lorrimer,  who, 
owing  to  the  reaction,  and  the  force  of  his 
first  fall,  was  in  a  condition  as  near  to  the 
semblance  of  alcoholic  collapse  as  the  ap- 
pearances might  have  reasonably  demanded. 
266 


A    CHASE    AND    A     CAPTURE 

Towing  the  big  automobile  behind  them, 
for  the  running  gear  was  intact,  though  wab- 
bly, the  captor  and  the  prize  crawled  back 
to  the  town. 

•An  hour  later  Lorrimer  could  not  believe 
his  senses.  He  was  seated  next  to  a  tired 
traveler  who  was  snoring  lustily  in  the  rear 
seat  of  the  smoker  on  the  early  morning  local 
bound  for  New  York.  On  his  knees  was  the 
bag,  for  the  faithful  Fontine  had  met  him 
at  the  station,  full  of  congratulations  upon 
the  way  this  particular  "  John  Smith  "  had 
managed  matters.  The  big  automobile  was 
held  as  a  bond  for  his  appearance  at  nine 
o'clock  the  next  morning.  The  plate  in  the 
paper  parcel  beneath  his  coat,  now  dented  and 
misshapen,  had  puzzled  the  officers.  But 
Fontine  had  helped  explain  it  by  recognizing 
it  as  a  part  of  an  automobile's  machinery, 
and  had  picked  it  out  unerringly  before  Lor- 
rimer could  stammeringly  make  up  his  mind, 
as  the  "  bed  plate  of  an  exhaust-valve  head," 
whatever  that  might  have  been. 

Now,  for  the  reason  that  he  had  forgotten 
his  latchkey,  Lorrimer  went  to  a  hotel  at  half- 
267 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

past  one  in  the  morning.  And  because  he 
thought  it  wiser  he  had  signed  the  register 
"  John  Smith,"  at  which  the  clerk  had  smiled 
softly  to  himself  and  received  payment  in  ad- 
vance. 


268 


CHAPTER    XX 

THE    VALUE    OF    INCENTIVE 

IORRIMER  turned  in  bed  toward  the 
sunlit  window  with  a  strange  sense 
of  the  unreality  of  his  surroundings. 
He  felt  battered  across  his  chest  and  ribs; 
both  knees  were  so  stiff  he  could  hardly 
move  them.  Now  he  could  account  for 
the  strange  dreams  which  he  had  had  the 
night  before.  One  was  that  he  had  joined 
Bostwick's  as  a  candidate  for  wrestling  with 
a  man-crushing  grizzly,  and  the  other  that  he 
had  persisted  in  facing  Mr.  Jeffries  in  the 
ring.  The  only  satisfactory  part  of  these 
somnolent  adventures  were  the  tearful  protes- 
tations of  Elsie,  who  had  managed  to  figure 
in  most  of  his  dreams  for  the  last  week  or  so. 
Suddenly,  with  a  start  of  alarm,  he  remem- 
bered the  little  leather  bag!  There  it  was, 
close  beside  his  bed,  and,  opening  it,  he  al- 
269 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

most  shuddered  in  relief,  for  there  were  the 
crisp  bank  bills!  Hurrah!  There  was  the 
bent  and  dented  copper  plate ! 

There  came  a  knocking  at  the  door,  and 
then,  relief  of  reliefs !  a  voice  whose  tones  he 
recognized  asked  if  he  was  awake.  With  as 
much  spring  as  he  could  muster  he  jumped 
out  of  bed  and  hobbled  over  to  the  door.  It 
was  Judson.  Now  Lorrimer  remembered 
that  he  had  scribbled  a  note  to  his  house  ask- 
ing Judson  to  come  to  him  in  the  morning. 
The  valet  walked  into  the  room  with  an  im- 
perturbable countenance.  He  carried  a  dress- 
suit  case  and  a  hatbox.  Although  at  a  glance 
he  took  in  the  muddy  trousers  over  the  back 
of  a  chair  and  the  big  fur  coat  over  another, 
he  asked  no  questions,  and  quietly  walking 
into  the  bathroom,  turned  on  the  hot  and  cold 
water.  Lorrimer  tottered  back  to  bed. 

"A  gentleman  called  to  see  you  this  morn- 
ing, sir." 

"  Who?  "  asked  Lorrimer  faintly. 

"  Left  a  card  and  a  note  for  you,  sir. 
'  Inspector  Walter  Hudson,'  sir,  of  the  '  Cen- 
tral Office.'  " 

270 


THE    VALUE    OF    INCENTIVE 

From  the  way  Judson  spoke,  the  inspector 
might  have  been  a  daily  visitor,  or  the  milk- 
man. In  fear  and  trembling  Lorrimer 
opened  the  note;  but  both  manifestations 
faded  when  he  read  its  contents.  It  was 
simply  a  request,  asking  if  Lorrimer  could  by 
any  chance  secure  him  some  spring-trout  fish- 
ing. In  his  relief  he  grinned  at  Judson 
foolishly. 

"Did  anything  else  happen,  Judson?" 
he  said. 

"At  the  house,  sir?    Nothing,  sir." 

"  What  did  you  think  when  I  didn't  come 
back,  Judson?" 

"  I  thought  you  had  concluded  to  stay 
hout,  sir." 

An  "  h  "  did  slip  in  this  time,  much  to 
Judson's  annoyance;  by  long  practice  he  had 
secured  a  firm  hold  on  the  elusive  aspirate. 

"Oh,  sir,  I  forgot,"  he  continued;  "a 
long-distance  telephone  this  morning  from 
Bridgeport.  It  happened  while  Inspect — 
while  the  gentleman  was  there.  I  was  down- 
stairs, sir,  and  he  answered  the  'phone,  sir." 

"Well,  well;  who  was  it?" 
271 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

"  Really,  I  haven't  the  least  idea,  sir. 
When  I  took  the  hin — instrument,  sir,  some- 
body asked  if  you'd  returned.  I  said,  '  No,' 
sir,  and  then  the  same  voice  asked  who  it  was 
that  '  first  answered '  the  telephone.  I  told 
him  it  was  Inspector  Hudson,  sir.  And  then 
the  party  said  something  I  couldn't  quite 
catch  and  closed  off." 

"What  did  he  say?" 

"  Couldn't  exactly  make  out,  sir,  but  it 
sounded  like  '  mondu  ' — your  bath  is  ready, 
sir." 

The  hot  water  and  the  cold  plunge  after 
it  seemed  to  limber  Lorrimer  up.  When  he 
emerged  a  few  minutes  later,  Judson  was 
packing  his  soiled  clothes  into  the  dress-suit 
case. 

"  Judson,"  said  Lorrimer,  "  when  you  go 
downstairs,  order  luncheon  for  three  at  one 
o'clock — and — hold  on,  go  down  to  the 
White  Star  Line  and  engage  the  large  double 
outside  stateroom  on  the  Baltic,  for  next 
Wednesday." 

"  The  one  they  calls  the  '  bridle  suit,'  sir? 
Book  it  in  your  name,  sir?  " 
272 


THE     VALUE    OF    INCENTIVE 

"  No,  pay  for  it,  no  matter  what  it  costs." 
He  drew  a  thousand-dollar  bill  out  of  the 
bag.  "  *  Book  '  it  in  the  name  of  '  Mr.  John 
Smith' — and,  oh,  another  thing — I  don't 
think  I'll  go  back  to  the  house  until  the 
time  of  sailing.  I'm  tired  of  the  caretaker's 
cooking." 

"  Very  good,"  said  Judson,  and,  taking 
the  money,  he  left  the  room. 

Mr.  Lorrimer  sent  for  pens,  ink,  paper, 
and  a  messenger. 


273 


CHAPTER    XXI 

THE    LAST   WHO    LAUGHED 

[AY  what  you  like,  Wilkins,"  said  In- 
spector Walter  Hudson,  as  he  sat 
in  the  bow  of  the  Adirondack  boat 
and  made  a  long  cast  in  toward  shore,  "  say 
what  you  like,  but  it  pays  to  have  rich 
friends  who  appreciate  your  asking  favors  of 
them.  Why,  Mr.  Lorrimer  just  turned  this 
camp  over  to  me ;  said  he'd  feel  offended  if  I 
didn't  use  it  as  if  it  was  my  own." 

"  Lorrimer,  Paul  Lorrimer?  "  questioned 
the  head  of  the  Secret  Service,  from  the  mid- 
thwart  fixing  a  white  miller  to  the  end  of  his 
leader. 

"  Yes,  Paul  Lorrimer." 

"  Crazy  as  a  bug,"  said  Mr.  Wilkins.  He 
threw  back  his  head  and  laughed.  "  I'll  tell 
you  a  story  some  day,"  he  said. 

"  No  more  crazy  than  you  are,  or  me," 
returned  the  inspector.  "  It  would  be  a  good 
274 


THE     LAST     WHO     LAUGHED 

thing  if  there  were  more  who  had  his  form 
of  insanity." 

Mr.  Wilkins  laughed  again.  "  I'll  tell  you 
the  story  some  day,"  he  repeated.  "  Only 
probably  you  won't  believe  it."  He  was  still 
chuckling  as  he  cast  the  white  miller  out  to- 
ward the  tail  of  the  old  beaver  dam.  "  He 
had  counterfeits  and  robberies  and  then  he 
got  a  woman  on  the  brain — the  last  cured 
him.  But  once,  honestly,  I  thought  he  was 
steering  pretty  close  between  the  pen  and  the 
lunatic  asylum.  Some  day  I'll  tell  you  the 
story." 

"  I  had  a  funny  run-in  with  him,  too,  down 
at  headquarters.  Thought  myself  he  acted 
queer  a  bit,"  remarked  the  inspector.  "  But 
he's  a  fine  gentleman." 

"  Never  said  anything  about  plates,  did 
he?"  asked  Mr.  Wilkins  and  once  more  he 
laughed. 


"  To  all  appearances  he's  entirely  recov- 
ered, doctor,"  said  Mr.  Fowler,   as  he  and 
Dr.  Higgins  sat  in  the  club  window,  "  and 
275 


OUTSIDE     THE    L  A  W 

happy;  he  was  in  the  seventh  heaven,  posi- 
tively beaming." 

"  Didn't  say  anything  about  plates,  did 
he?" 

"  No;  never  mentioned  them." 

"  Well,  it  was  a  very  funny  case,"  mused 
the  doctor,  "  and  it  had  a  strange  ending, 
didn't  it?" 

"  Cupid,  M.D. !  I  remember  reading  a 
clever  novel  by  that  title  once,  years  ago. 
This  seems  to  be  another  case  of  it.  From 
your  account  she  must  be  a  very  handsome 
young  woman." 

"Pretty  as  a  picture,"  said  Mr.  Fowler; 
"  and  as  nice  as  they  make  them,  apparently. 
Been  a  trained  nurse,  I  believe." 

"  Some  of  the  finest  women  in  the  world 
are  trained  nurses,"  said  the  doctor  with  a 
sigh  that  had  a  little  reminiscent  diapason. 
"  Well,  what  has  become  of  the  old  gentle- 
man? " 

"  Oh,  he's  up  at  Lorrimer's  country  place. 
Going  to  write  a  book." 

"  I'd  like  to  read  any  book  he'd  write," 
said  the  doctor,  and  throwing  back  his  head 
276 


THE    LAST    WHO    LAUGHED 

he  laughed,  a  laugh  in  which  Mr.   Fowler 
joined. 


On  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the  Cafe 
Ribeiro,  not  far  from  the  Rue  do  Ouvidor, 
a  tall,  black-bearded  man  sat  on  a  spindle- 
legged  chair  beside  a  spindle-legged  table 
upon  which  rested  a  long  glass  of  cafe  com 
pinga.  He  looked  up  from  a  three  weeks' 
old  copy  of  a  New  York  sensational  paper 
that  he  held  on  his  lap.  The  article  was 
headed :  "  The  Automobile  Mystery  Still  Un- 
solved!" It  told  how  a  sixty-horse-power 
F.  I.  A.  T.  machine  of  a  rich  New  Yorker  had 
been  hired  from  his  dishonest  chauffeur  in  his 
absence  by  a  stranger,  whose  description  was 
somewhat  vague,  as  the  chauffeur  gave  it,  and 
how  it  had  been  found  deserted  with  a  new 
number  pasted  over  the  proper  one,  in  a  sub- 
urban town  not  far  from  the  metropolis. 
The  story  related  that  one  of  the  occupants 
who  had  given  his  name  as  "  Smith  "  had 
been  arrested  for  fast  speeding;  the  other, 
who  had  been  driving  the  machine,  had 
277 


OUTSIDE     THE    LAW 

escaped.  "  It  is  rumored,"  added  the  article, 
"  that  the  two  were  notorious  criminals  out 
for  some  nefarious  purpose,  and  that  a  double 
arrest  and  startling  disclosures  will  shortly  be 
forthcoming.  Mr.  Smith  forfeited  his  bail 
and  there  are  strong  suspicions  of  the  bribery 
of  police  officials." 

"  Poor  Mr.  '  Brown !  '  "  ejaculated  the  tall 
man  with  the  beard;  "  it  will  cost  him  more 
than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  get  out 
of  that.  Don't  think  I'll  go  back  to  New 
York  for  some  time  to  come.  Lucky,"  he 
added  to  himself,  "  I  caught  that  fruit 
steamer  just  as  she  was  sailing.  They  might 
have  got  me.  Poor  old  Brown !  "  He  took 
a  sip  out  of  the  tall  glass  and  laughed  again. 
Then  he  remembered  it  was  time  for  him  to 
get  back  to  the  "  Club  High-Life  "  and  roll 
the  ivory  ball  at  Senor  Coelho's  roulette  table. 
There  was  more  than  one  way  that  the  man 
with  the  eager  eyes  could  pick  up  a  living. 


There  was  an   American  dancing  couple 
doing  a  turn  at  the  Theatre  des  Varietes. 
278 


THE     LAST     WHO     LAUGHED 

The  woman  was  very  large  and  blonde,  with 
a  blatant,  humorous  voice  and  agile  feet. 
The  man  in  a  red  wig  was  quite  fascinating, 
for  with  all  his  grotesqueness  he  danced  with 
grace  and  intelligence.  They  were  doing  a 
marvelous  American  side-step  jig,  in  the  per- 
formance of  which  they  seemed  to  reflect  the 
pleasure  of  the  audience,  for  they  kept  up  a 
little  running  chirping  of  small  talk,  when 
they  were  not  singing  the  verses  that  made  an 
interlude  to  their  terpsichorean  efforts.  The 
Frenchmen  could  not  have  understood  what 
they  said,  but  suddenly  they  were  treated  to  a 
little  byplay  that  was  out  of  the  usual  order. 

"  Maisie,"  said  the  man,  as  heel  and  toe 
tapped  rhythmically  on  the  sanded  floor  of 
the  stage,  "  for  the  love  of  Moses,  look  who's 
in  the  box!  " 

"  Who?  "  said  his  companion,  never  miss- 
ing a  step  as  she  glanced  over  her  shoulder. 
But  as  her  eyes  fell  on  the  occupants  of  the 
lower  loge,  she  missed  not  only  one,  but  two. 
"  Mr.  Brown !  "  she  gasped.  She  pulled  her- 
self together  with  an  effort  and  her  husband 
carefully  covered  her  discomfiture  by  stum- 
279 


OUTSIDE    THE    LAW 

bling  in  the  same  cadence  with  an  exaggera- 
tion of  her  mistake. 

"  And  look,  Sam,  Sam !  "  said  the  woman, 
almost  stopping  entirely.  "  See  who's  in  the 
box  beside  him !  " 

"  Mind  your  steps,  Maisie,  mind  your 
steps!  Who  is  it?" 

"  The  trained  nurse  from  Brooklyn !  " 

Mr.  Reeder  slipped  his  arm  around  his 
wife's  waist,  and  bending  down  pretended  to 
tie  her  slipper.  Then,  with  an  elaborate  bow, 
he  kissed  her  hand,  and  they  danced  them- 
selves off  the  stage. 


"Where  have  I  seen  her  before?"  said 
Mrs.  Lorrimer  to  her  husband. 

"  Can't  say,  my  dear,"  said  Lorrimer, 
"  but  her  face  is  familiar  to  me,  too.  Prob- 
ably in  America,  we've  seen  them  at  the 
theater  somewhere." 

"  It  wasn't  in  New  York,"  said  Elsie. 
"  Maybe  it  was  in  some  past  life.  Seems  as  if 
I  had  met  her  in  some  out-of-the-way  corner." 

"  I  never  had  any  past  life,"  said  her  hus- 
280 


THE    LAST     WHO     LAUGHED 

band.  "  I  never  seemed  to  be  living  at  all 
until  the  present."  He  stole  his  hand  into 
hers.  "  You  know  what  is  the  best  present 
the  past  ever  gave  to  me,"  he  added. 

Mrs.  Lorrimer  laughed  softly.  "  Silly 
boy!  "  she  said. 

Lorrimer  almost  roared.  The  audience, 
too,  was  in  shouts  of  merriment.  Mr.  Reeder 
had  made  a  comic  bow. 

"What  was  that — I  didn't  see  it?"  said 
Elsie. 

"Neither  did  I,"  returned  Lorrimer;  "I 
just  laughed  because  I  was  happy.  I  don't 
remember  a  worry  in  the  world." 

"How  about  the  missing  plates?"  asked 
Elsie  slyly. 

"  Oh,  those  blessed  plates !  Dear  old 
Straub !  If  he  only  knows  how  thoroughly 
I  forgive  him  !  " 

He  chuckled,  and  this  time  Mrs.  Lorrimer 
laughed  softly  and  sweetly. 

"  I  hope  he  does,"  she  said.  "  I  join  in 
the  forgiveness." 

(i) 

THE    END 
19  28l 


WHERE    LOVE    CONQUERS. 

The  Reckoning. 

By  ROBERT  W.  CHAMBERS. 

The  author's  intention  is  to  treat,  in  a  series  of  four  or  five 
romances,  that  part  of  the  war  for  independence  which  particularly 
affected  the  great  landed  families  of  northern  New  York,  the 
Johnsons,  represented  by  Sir  William,  Sir  John,  Guy  Johnson,  and 
Colonel  Claus ;  the  notorious  Butlers,  father  and  son,  the  Schuylers, 
Van  Rensselaers,  and  others. 

The  first  romance  of  the  series,  Cardigan,  was  followed  by  the 
second,  The  Maid-at-Arms.  The  third,  in  order,  is  not  completed. 
The  fourth  is  the  present  volume. 

As  Cardigan  pretended  to  portray  life  on  the  baronial  estate  of 
Sir  William  Johnson,  the  first  uneasiness  concerning  the  coming 
trouble,  the  first  discordant  note  struck  in  the  harmonious  councils 
of  the  Long  House,  so,  in  The  Maid-at-Arms,  which  followed  in 
order,  the  author  attempted  to  paint  a  patroon  family  disturbed  by 
the  approaching  rumble  of  battle.  That  romance  dealt  with  the 
first  serious  split  in  the  Iroquois  Confederacy ;  it  showed  the  Long 
House  shattered  though  not  fallen ;  the  demoralization  and  final 
flight  of  the  great  landed  families  who  remained  loyal  to  the  British 
Crown;  and  it  struck  the  key-note  to  the  future  attitude  of  the 
Iroquois  toward  the  patriots  of  the  frontier — revenge  for  their 
losses  at  the  battle  of  Oriskany — and  ended  with  the  march  of  the 
militia  and  continental  troops  on  Saratoga. 

The  third  romance,  as  yet  incomplete  and  unpublished,  deals 
with  the  war-path  and  those  who  followed  it  led  by  the  landed 
gentry  of  Tryon  County;  and  ends  with  the  first  solid  blow  de- 
livered at  the  Long  House,  and  the  terrible  punishment  of  the 
Great  Confederacy. 

The  present  romance,  the  fourth  in  chronological  order,  picks 
up  the  thread  at  that  point. 

The  author  is  not  conscious  of  having  taken  any  liberties  with 
history  in  preparing  a  framework  of  facts  for  a  mantle  of  romance. 

ROBERT  W.  CHAMBERS. 
NEW  YORK,  May  26,  1904. 

D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY,     NEW    YORK. 


WORKS  OF  ROBERT  W.  CHAMBERS. 


IOLE 

Colored  inlay  on  the  cover,  decorative  borders,  head- 
pieces, thumb-nail  sketches,  and  tail-pieces.  Frontispiece 
and  three  full-page  illustrations.  i2mo.  Ornamental 
Cloth,  $1.25. 

Does  anybody  remember  the  opera  of  The  Inca,  and  that  heart-breaking 
episode  where  the  Court  Undertaker,  in  a  morbid  desire  to  increase  his  pro- 
fessional skill,  deliberately  accomplishes  the  destruction  of  his  middle-aged 
relatives  in  order  to  inter  them  for  the  sake  of  practice  ? 

If  I  recollect,  his  dismal  confession  runs  something  like  this : 
"  It  was  in  bleak  November 
When  I  slew  them,'I  remember, 
As  I  caught  them  unawares 
Drinking  tea  in  rocking-chairs." 

And  so  he  talked  them  to  death,  the  subject  being  "What  Really  Is  Art?" 
Afterward  he  was  sorry — 

"  The  squeak  of  a  door, 

The  creak  of  a  floor, 
My  horrors  and  fears  enhance  ; 
And  I  wake  with  a  scream 
As  I  hear  in  my  dream 
The  shrieks  of  my  maiden  aunts  ! " 

Now  it  is  a  very  dreadful  thing  to  suggest  that  those  highly  respectable 
pseudo-spinsters,  the  Sister  Arts,  supposedly  cozily  immune  in  their  polyga- 
mous chastity  (for  every  suitor  for  favor  is  popularly  expected  to  be  wedded  to 
his  particular  art) — I  repeat,  it  is  very  dreadful  to  suggest  that  these  impeccable 
old  ladies  are  in  danger  of  being  talked  to  death. 

But  the  talkers  are  talking  and  Art  Nouveau  rockers  are  rocking,  and  the 
trousers  of  the  prophet  are  patched  with  stained  glass,  and  it  is  a  day  of  dinki- 
ness  and  of  thumbs. 

Let  us  find  comfort  in  the  ancient  proverb :  "  Art  talked  to  death  shall  rise 
again."  Let  us  also  recollect  that  "Dinky  is  as  dinky  does;"  that  "All  is 
not  Shaw  that  Bernards  ; "  that  "  Better  Yeates  than  Clever ;  "  that  words  are 
so  inexpensive  that  there  is  no  moral  crime  in  robbing  Henry  to  pay  James. 

Firmly  believing  all  this,  abjuring  all  atom-pickers,  slab  furniture,  and 
woodchuck  literature — save  only  the  immortal  verse : 

"  And  there  the  wooden-chuck  doth  tread  ; 

While  from  the  oak  trees'  tops 
The  red,  red  squirrel  on  the  head 

The  frequent  acorn  drops." 

Abjuring,  as  I  say,  dinkiness  in  all  its  forms,  we  may  still  hope  that  those 
cleanly  and  respectable  spinsters,  the  Sister  Arts,  will  continue  throughout  the 
ages,  rocking  and  drinking  tea  unterrified  by  the  million-tongued  clamor  in 
the  back  yard  and  below  stairs,  where  thumb  and  forefinger  continue  the 
question  demanded  by  intellectual  exhaustion  : 
"  L'arr  !  Kesker  say  1'arr  ?  " 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK- 


